


Turnabout Hero

by three_days_late



Series: Turnabout Hero [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Hetalia Kink Meme, Minor Character Death, Murder Mystery, Original Character Death(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2018-07-25 14:20:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 58,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7536196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/three_days_late/pseuds/three_days_late
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Alfred F. Jones is accused and tried for murder, Phoenix Wright is brought in to defend him. Solving a murder with this strange bunch will not be easy, and with secrets around every corner and the entire country against him, can Phoenix prove him innocent?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I've been posting this on ff.net, but I figured if I posted it here too, then I'd have more people telling me to update, and if I had more people telling me to update, I may actually update at what would be considered a reasonable rate. Who knows, we'll see.
> 
> This is a deanon from the Hetalia kink meme, the request was for an Ace Attorney/Hetalia crossover, now spruced up and edited, and I even had those pesky plot holes filled for your reading convenience, if you've read this on the meme. If you haven't, hey look! An Ace Attorney/Hetalia Crossover! This should be fun!

 

**March 10, 9:15 PM. Alleyway.**

BANG!

He took off running, not thinking or caring about what exactly he was doing. All he knew was that there was a gunshot and he was around to hear it and hopefully he could get there in time.

BANG!

_Damn…_

When he turned the corner and dashed down the alley where the shots came from, he was met with the last sight he expected to see…well maybe not _the_ last, Matt riding a dinosaur while shouting profanities in Spanish with Francis calmly sipping tea from the sidelines and Arthur praising French culture would probably take that spot, but this was definitely in the top ten, possibly even the top five.

"You…what…" before he could get a coherent sentence out he saw a quick movement in the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look he was blinded by a flash and when he turned back, he was alone in the alley.

That is, except for the Congressman lying on the ground that had just been shot twice. He was still there.

"Hold on!" he wasted no time switching to hero mode and kneeling by the man's side and pressing his hands to his chest to try and stop the bleeding. "You're going to be fine, just let me-"

Before he could say anymore, a hand shot up and grabbed his wrist tight. "D-don't…"

"No, you'll be fine! Just let me call for help-"

He shook his head. "I-it's a trap…g-get out…" The dying man violently coughed up blood before taking his last, labored breaths and died.

"N-no!" He started beating his chest. "Live damnit! You can't die on me now!"

He realized it was too late, that nothing would work, that he was gone, and fell backwards away from the body, shock setting in.

Lights, headlights to be specific, shone behind him, sirens were blazing. He heard someone shouting something at him, but he couldn't quite make it out…

"I said stand up and put your hands in the air!"

He saw no reason not to, so he complied. Instantly he was shoved face first into a nearby wall and his hands cuffed behind his back. It started to rain, washing the blood off the ground, off the body, off of everywhere but his hands.

"Alfred F. Jones, you are under arrest for the murder of Congressman Smith. You have the right to remain silent…"


	2. Day 0: First Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix and Maya are recruited for a murder case in DC

 

My name is Phoenix Wright, and I'm a defense attorney. I get some really weird cases sometimes, and this last one probably tops them all…

**March 15, 9:00AM. Wright & Co. Law Offices.**

I was lounging around my office, not a care in the world, when my assistant and resident spirit medium, Maya Fey, suddenly burst through the door.

"Hey Nick, are you…do you still not have a case yet!?"

"It's just a lag. Things'll pickup when we get into the murder season."

"There's a season for murder? Huh, never knew that. Must be autumn."

"Why do you say that?"

"It goes by the code name 'fall.' Autumn is definitely planning something." She looked around the office, which was a complete mess. "Maybe if you picked up around the office a little, you'd stop scaring all the clients away."

(Isn't that your job? And most of it is your mess anyway…)

"Oh, by the way," Maya continued, "who's this guy? Is he friend of yours?"

"…What guy?"

"The guy standing right here."

I looked to where she was pointing, and sure enough, there was a man with silky blond hair, sky blue eyes, and glasses shuffling around right by the door.

"Oh, there. Um, sorry, I didn't see you."

"It's alright, I'm used to it," he gave me a small smile and stepped forward, "but, um, you are the defense attorney, aren't you?"

"Yeah, how can I help you? You don't look like the type of guy to get into trouble."

"It's always the quiet ones that you got to watch out for, Nick," Maya whispered.

(You're one to talk…get your hand away from my wallet!)

"No, I'm fine. It's, well, my brother, Alfred Jones."

Maya went wide eyed and gasped, "You, you're…you're related to that creep?!"

(Who's he? The name doesn't ring a bell. Why do I have the feeling I'm missing something important…?)

"It's all over the news Nick! You really should keep up on the current…political stuff."

(Maya actually paying attention to the news? More likely something out of the gossip columns.)

"Anyway, Alfred Jones is a demon! He's the one who killed that Congressman in DC the other day in cold blood for no other reason than he likes watching people suffer. He knows he's guilty too, so he keeps refusing defense lawyers, even the ones the state's providing for him!"

(Definitely the gossip columns. You shouldn't believe everything you see on TV.)

"No no! That's completely wrong! Sorry, but that's just the way the media's spinning it. He didn't kill anyone, and he's refusing defense lawyers because he's an idiot."

"So why are you here, Mr. Jones?" I asked.

"Eh? Oh, sorry, I never gave you my name did I? It's Williams actually, Matthew Williams, but you can just call me Matt, or That Guy Canadian Guy, or even Who, I'll respond to anything really. But Mr. Wright, I've heard about you. You take on seemingly impossible cases with some of the most idiotic clients and somehow miraculously prove their innocence. Believe me when I say Alfred didn't kill that man, he just wouldn't do something like that!"

"You came all the way to California just to hire me? Does your brother even know you're here?"

"Well, no. He can be a bit, stubborn, sometimes. And it's not that far. I live in Ottawa, but I had a meeting in Vancouver until yesterday, so it's kind of on my way. I was supposed to be in Washington today anyway, so I'll just be showing up a bit later than I planned."

"What were you doing in Vancouver?" Maya asked, "Isn't that kinda far?"

"Not from here no; it's in the same time zone anyway. I work for the government, so, um, I can't really talk about what I was doing there. Sorry, but it's classified."

_Matthew Williams_  
Age: 19  
Gender: Male  
Defendant's Brother. Works for the Canadian Government. A bit on the shy side and sometimes hard to notice.

"That's fine, but why me?"

"Well, um, Kiku, he's my friend and he recommended you, well, he said that you were a bit of an idiotic idealist."

(Great, now people I've never met are making fun of me…)

"I'm sorry; it's just what he said. Please don't make that face."

(…What face?)

"It's fine though, because my brother is the king of idiotic idealists. You don't have to say yes yet, just come to Washington with me and meet him. I'll even pay for the flight and the hotel! There's a good chance he won't even take you on, I just want to," he bit his lip and shifted his feet, "try. He's my brother. Even if he is an idiot, I can't just let him go to jail."

"Flight and hotel? It's like a free vacation! I say we go. I'll get my bathing suit." Maya cheered.

(Do you even know where Washington DC is?)

"I can't just drop everything and fly across the country. My law firm is here, and I've got work to do too you know."

"No you don't, Nick, you haven't had a case in months! We'll go!"

"Thank you! It means a lot to me!" he did look relieved as he smiled at us, "The flight leaves in about an hour, so if you could get packed quickly that would be best. I'll just be waiting outside." With some more words of thanks, he left.

"Why did you do that, Maya? I thought you didn't like this guy."

"Matt's nice; it's not his fault his brother's a cold-hearted demon man. And you don't have to take the case, just the free plane ride and hotel room!" She ran around the office, tossing random things into two suitcases she pulled out of somewhere. I didn't even know we had them in the office.

"Maya, this won't be a vacation you know. He's trying to hire us for a case. We may end up working."

"We're taking a plane, and we'll be staying at a hotel. Of course it's a vacation! Now, should I bring red one, or the blue one?"

(Why do I get the feeling this is going to be one crazy trip?)

_To be continued._


	3. Day 0: First Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix and Maya meet their client, Alfred Jones.

**March 15, 5:00 PM. Detention Center.**

Matthew, as it turned out, knew almost everybody at both airports, and they trusted him enough to let us all bypass the security measures so we could get to the capitol as quickly as possible. As soon as we landed he insisted that we go meet his brother right away.

"So we don't waste time. If you do take the case, then you'll need time to prepare your defense and if you don't, well, I'll need to arrange your flight home. We can go to the hotel right after."

"But I'm tired," Maya complained, "I have lag jet."

"I think you mean jet lag, and you can go on ahead to the hotel and rest if you want. I can meet him by myself."

"They might not let you in," Matthew said, "They've increased security at the Detention Center since the media picked up the story. Here I'll write you a note."

_Note From Matthew  
Quick note from Matthew to get me in to see Alfred._

"Thanks," I put the note in my pocket for safe keeping.

"I wrote the address of the hotel for you too, so just meet us there when you're done."

They left me to face Alfred Jones alone, and getting at him was as hard as Matt had predicted. The place was crawling with press.

"Are you the new defense lawyer?" A woman with a microphone asked me.

"Um, I guess-"

That turned out to be the wrong answer. They swarmed.

"How do you sleep at night knowing you're letting yet another monster haunt the already perilous streets?"

"Is it true that Mr. Jones doesn't have a lawyer yet because he eats potential prospects if they refuse to sell him their souls?"

"How much are Jones's people paying you to defend him and is it enough to ease your guilty and blood stained conscious?"

"Are the rumors about mafia involvement true?"

"Did Mr. Jones ever return those kidnapped orphans and puppies?"

"Can you tell us why the government is trying to suppress this story?"

"What planet is Mr. Jones actually from?"

"Enough! No more questions!" A familiar voice shouted. Someone grabbed my shoulder and dragged me away from the media mob, but that only succeeded at transferring their questions to him instead.

"Mr. Edgeworth, is it true that the President asked you personally to step into this case when all the other prosecutors ran away scared?"

"Mr. Edgeworth, has Mr. Jones or his men made any threat to your life as of yet?"

"Mr. Edgeworth, has Mr. Jones really been eating all of the other prosecutors' livers with some fava beans and a nice Chianti?"

"Mr. Edgeworth?"

"Mr. Edgeworth?"

Edgeworth slammed the door to the detention center behind us after he pulled me through it.

"This is a high profile case, Wright, the kind they eat up. You can't let your guard down for a second or answer any of their questions if you can. It would be troublesome if this case got any more publicity than it already has," he blinked, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Alfred's brother asked me to defend him. What are you doing here?"

"Apparently not only is the defendant lacking a defense attorney, they have yet to bring in a prosecutor. Every eligible prosecutor in the city and the states of Virginia and Maryland refuse to take this case, so they called me in."

"…He's not actually-"

"No, he isn't eating anyone. They all have some convoluted notion that he's actually innocent and refuse to accept the case. Preposterous. I've seen the case file, Wright; the boy is guilty."

"You say that about everyone."

"The police already have a mountain of evidence against him. The murder weapon was his gun, found with him at the crime scene. There's a witness as well. Look at the autopsy report."

 _Ben Smith_  
Age: 62  
Gender: Male  
Victim. Congressman from New Jersey. Was working on some anti-mob legislation before his death.

_Cause of death: One bullet wound to the heart. Bullet recovered matches the gun found at the scene.  
Time of death: Between 9-10 PM on March 10._

"Allegedly Jones works for the government as well, but no one knows what his actual job is."

"Why are you even at the Detention Center? You usually don't involve yourself with the defendant."

"The local Prosecutor's Office refuses to let me on the case until I meet with Jones for some reason."

"So you haven't met him yet?"

"No, have you?"

"No, I'm not even officially on the case yet."

"I suppose that makes two of us then."

We were able to get in to see Alfred Jones easy enough despite it being past visiting hours. They were expecting Edgeworth and my note from Matthew was all I needed to convince them of who I was; I didn't even need to show them my badge. We didn't have to wait very long before they let us see him.

Alfred looked almost exactly like his brother, except his hair was shorter and had one sticking out above his forehead where his brother's just curled. His glasses were also a bit different, squarer where Matthew's were round; he gave off a far more confidant aura, and, despite his circumstances, was still smiling.

 _Alfred F. Jones_  
Age: 19  
Gender: Male  
Defendant. Works for the American Government. Has a bit of a hero complex.

"Are you the new lawyers?" he asked with a laugh, "I know they're having trouble finding a prosecutor, but did they really need to send two?"

"I'm the prosecutor. He's your new defense," Edgeworth said, as if he was insulted that I would even be mistaken for his colleague.

"I told them I don't want a defense lawyer."

"Do you think you can actually provide a satisfactory defense for yourself then?"

"It's not that. It's just, well, I don't have the money to pay for a lawyer right now."

"That's why the state can-"

"Yeah, but that's the taxpayer's money! I don't want them to use that for me either! We're in the middle of a recession you know!"

I was stunned. Edgeworth must have been too. I don't think he'd ever heard that one before.

"Mr. Jones, your brother offered to pay me already, so-"

"Well, I don't want Matt to pay for my lawyer either. It's not that I don't appreciate your help, I really do. It's just, the money for my lawyer could go to so many other things. Why waste it on me?"

(So that's what Matt meant by being and idiotic idealist…I'm not that bad am I?)

"Mr. Jones, are you even aware of the situation you're in right now?"

"I've been falsely accused of murdering a Congressman. It wasn't me though and I can prove it!"

"Really?" Edgeworth was skeptical. "Do tell."

"The last words he said to me were, 'It's a trap.' That means I'm being framed!"

"So you admit to being there when he died?" Edgeworth tapped his fingers on his arm.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"And no one else was around to hear this 'final words,' correct?"

"Yes, but-"

"So how do I know you aren't lying?"

"Because I'm not." There was something in his eyes that made me believe that that was the truth, and I'm sure Edgeworth saw it too, but being Edgeworth, he probably didn't believe it.

"What about the gun? The murder weapon is your gun, correct?"

"Yes, but I'm not the one that shot it. Someone stole it from me."

"And you didn't notice?"

"Well, I have a lot of guns. And a tank."

(What's he doing with a tank!? Scratch that, I don't want to know…)

"The police didn't find anything on you when they brought you in…"

"Yeah, I only had one on me that day because I was, doing something."

"It wouldn't happen to have been the murder weapon, would it?"

"How did you know that?"

(For some reason I feel like the mountain of evidence collapsed on me…and he's not officially my client yet.)

"Oh, I get it, you still think I did it," this only seemed to amuse him, as he grinned even wider. "Well I hate to disappoint, but as I told you, that gun was stolen and it wasn't in my possession when the murder took place."

"And you have something other than your word to prove this I assume?"

"Of course I, wait, no. My word is all I got."

"Figures."

"Ah!" he snapped his fingers, "Arthur! Just ask Arthur. He'd know."

(Arthur?)

"Arthur?"

"Arthur Kirkland. He was with me for most of the day."

"Was he with you when the murder took place?"

"Um, no."

"Then he's not very helpful is he? Mr. Jones, you have yet to even slightly convince me that you are anything other than a cold blooded murderer."

"Well, you're the prosecutor. You're not supposed to believe me. But still," he looked through the glass, straight into Edgeworth's eyes, "I didn't kill him. I _couldn't_ kill him. There's no way I would ever kill one of my own Congressmen."

And I believed him. There was just something about him that, even with that mountain of evidence stacked against him and the media writing him off as some kind of demon, you couldn't help but believe him. I couldn't explain it, but right then, I knew I had to make sure he got off.

"Mr. Jones," I said, "I'm going to defend you."

He and Edgeworth looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "I'm not going to pay you."

"I know. I'll do it pro bono."

"That's pretty kinky sounding. You know the prosecutor's here, right? That's really unprofessional."

(What?)

"That means he'll do it for free."

(Is Edgeworth chuckling?)

"Oh, that makes more sense. You don't have to if you don't want to, you know."

"I know, but I want to. I believe you're innocent and I want to make sure you walk free."

Alfred's grin grew wider, if that was possible, as he laughed, "Awesome! Thank you so much!"

"This is all well and good, because I'm afraid I believe you to be innocent as well." The smile vanished from Alfred's face for the first time all meeting.

"Really? You too?"

"My apologies, but I'm afraid I cannot take your case."

"What?!" I asked, "Sure you can. You can just, you know, let me win."

"He can't! The process won't work!"

"I would be making a complete mockery of the entire justice system if I prosecuted a man I thought was innocent. Surely even you are aware of that, Wright?"

(Still would make my job easier though…)

"I, doubt you'll be able to find a prosecutor in America willing to prosecute me," he sighed, "At this rate I'll be in here forever."

"We'll see about that. If I can't prosecute you, then I'll make it my job to find someone who can."

The guards came in to take Alfred back to his cell shortly after, but I promised him I'd be back tomorrow to talk to him some more.

The mob of reporters was gone by the time we made it outside again, which was good, because I really didn't need the added pressure after officially taking this case.

"Don't you think it's strange?" Edgeworth asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"His last comment, about no one in America wanting to prosecute him. Don't you think it's strange?"

"I, guess?"

He sighed, "The media's playing him out to be some heartless fiend. Alfred Jones is probably the most hated man in America right now, so why won't any prosecutor think he's guilty?"

"Well, you've met him."

"Exactly. Something about him just, makes me believe him. I'm not sure. In about five minutes I won't know what I was thinking."

"So you _do_ think he's guilty?"

"Yes, no, maybe. I know he is, all the evidence points to it, but, I _feel_ like he isn't."

"I didn't know you could feel."

"Quiet you! Anyway, I want to look into this some more."

(Only you would want to look into your emotions…wait-) "But I figured, since you feel he's innocent and all you could possibly help me."

"You can do your own job Wright." He turned and left, shouting, "If he's really innocent, then you should have no problems with this case," over his shoulder.

(In theory…now where was that hotel?)

_To be continued._


	4. Day 0: End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix and Maya find the hotel and meet some of the other guests.

**March 15, 6:00 PM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel.**

I didn't have too much trouble finding the hotel. Matt was there waiting for me in the lobby, along with a blond man I had never seen before and a polar bear.

(Is that a real polar bear?!)

"Oh good, you found it okay. I was starting to worry you might get lost," Matt said.

"This is the lawyer?" the man sneered as he sized me up, "He doesn't look like much. His hair is so spiky."

(I'm standing right here! And you're one to talk with your…silky blond locks of perfection…)

"Don't look at me like that, _Monsieur_ Lawyer."

"Sorry, I didn't introduce you did I? Mr. Wright, this is my friend, Francis Bonnefoy. He works for the French Government."

" _Bonsoir, Monsieur_ Lawyer. Honestly though, I wouldn't be trusting you with our dear Alfred's case if it weren't for your charming assistant."

 _Name: Francis Bonnefoy_  
Age: 26  
Gender: Male  
A friend. Works for the French Government. Was in town the day of the murder. Likes beautiful things.

(For some reason I don't want this guy anywhere near Maya.) "Where is Maya?"

"She's upstairs sleeping. But, um, there's a problem with the rooms."

"What?" (You said you'd take care of it…)

"I'm sorry! Just talk to Ludwig, he's the one who takes care of these things."

"Alright, where is he?"

"He's at the bar with Gilbert, I believe," Francis butt in, "you should go rest too, Mathieu, you've had a long day. I will take care of _Monsieur_ Lawyer for you."

(For some reason I'm uncomfortable with the way he said that…and the look he's giving me.)

"Well, alright, I'll wait for you in the room," he gave one last look to Francis, "Don't hurt him, please. Alfred needs him," with that, Matt and the polar bear (It is real!) went over to the elevators.

"Now, come with me. Ludwig shouldn't be too drunk yet," Francis forcefully grabbed my arm and dragged me through the lobby.

"I suppose," he started after he let go of me and led me around a few hallways, "that you are wondering why so many people from all over the world are here, yes? Or did Mathieu explain it?"

"Um, he mentioned something on the plane about a meeting?"

" _Oui_. _Monsieur_ Lawyer, everybody currently staying at this hotel, save for you and your lovely assistant, all hold the same position in different governments."

"And what position is that?"

He smirked, "That's classified. We were, however, supposed to have our semiannually regular meeting the day after the murder took place."

"Supposed to?"

"We can't really have it now that Alfred's in jail, with him being the host and everything."

"I guess not. What's this meeting about anyway?"

"That too is classified."

(Then why bring it up?) "Can you tell me anything about it?"

"It was supposed to be for a week, but has been postponed until after Alfred's trial. Most of the others have gone home already. However some are staying for the trial."

"Will I be able to talk to them?"

Francis shook his head, "That is up to them. Most of them arrived the day after the murder anyway. I doubt they will know much."

"How many did stay?"

"I can't tell you off the top of my head. Ludwig should know. I do know that everyone who came early and was here on the day of the murder is still here."

(That's…actually helpful.) "Did a lot of you come in early?"

" _Non_ , just a few, each of us for various reasons."

"So, you're one of the ones that came early?"

" _Oui_. I came early to bug Arthur, who was also coming early, for his own reasons."

(Arthur? Didn't Alfred mention an Arthur?) "Why did he come early?"

"That, I don't know."

By this time we had made it to the bar area where I could clearly see two men, one blond and one albino, sitting and drinking, with the bartender keeping a careful eye on them.

"Oh, Ludwig! Gilbert!" Francis called out. The blond cringed while the albino looked up and grinned.

"Francis! I was wondering where you wandered off to! Who's the new guy?"

"This is the lawyer Mathieu found for Alfred. _Monsieur_ Wrong."

"Wright," I corrected, "Phoenix Wright."

"Right, you'll need your room assignment." The blond put his drink down and shuffled through some papers that he had with him.

"I don't know," the albino said, sizing me up. "He looks weak."

(Who asked you?!)

"It's the hair, Gilbert, don't you agree?" Francis agreed.

"Must be it. Far too spiky. Too distracting in a real battle, you'd never last long, but you might be able to head butt someone in a fight."

(What on earth is he talking about?) "Do you really work for the government?"

"Not anymore," Gilbert chugged the rest of his drink before continuing, "I leave all the boring stuff to West here. Isn't that right?"

"I wouldn't complain if you shouldered some responsibility every now and then, _Bruder_."

"Oh, you know you like it. Wouldn't have dragged us here early if you didn't," Ludwig blushed as his brother cackled.

 _Ludwig Wiellschmidt_  
Age: 20  
Gender: Male  
Works for the German government. Was in town on the day of the murder. Seems to be organizing everything.

 _Gilbert Wiellschmidt_  
Age: 25  
Gender: Male  
Used to work for the German government. Was in town on the day of the murder. A bit of a hooligan.

"Why did you come in early?"

"What are we on trial or something?" Gilbert barked, "I know how you lawyer types think, and you're not getting nothing out of me!"

(…Wouldn't that mean I'm definitely getting something out of you? Double negatives and all that.)

"I always come a day early," Ludwig answered, "especially if it's in America or Italy. The hosts are incompetent with these kinds of things."

"West," Gilbert whined, "you're no fun…"

"Do you know who else was here the day before?"

Ludwig raised an eyebrow, "Why do you need to know?"

I shrugged, "It could help me figure out what Alfred was doing that day and get a clear idea of what was going on. It couldn't hurt to talk to them."

"Alfred was busy. None of us saw much of him except Arthur," he leaned back a bit and stared at the bar, "Arthur and Francis got in before us."

"Our flight landed at about tenish," Francis supplied.

"Our flight came in at 11:15. Feliciano and Lovino Vargas landed at noon. That was it for the first day."

"Are they around? I'd like to see if they saw anything."

"Why?" Gilbert piped in, "You think one of us did it?"

"I'm just trying to piece together what happened. If Alfred was supposed to be with you guys-"

"He wasn't. Not until the next day when the meeting started. That day was a free day. He was with Arthur," Gilbert finished off his beer (Didn't even notice he got a new one…). "Well, I was here with Francis that night, I think. Ask the bartender, I'm sure he remembers us."

(You think?) "You're not sure?"

"Gilbert was pretty, how you say, wasted that night," Francis sighed, "He was here though, I can vouch for that, and the bartender _definitely_ remembers us."

The bartender gave me a nod and a glared at Gilbert, who muttered an apology and ordered another beer.

"I was sightseeing with Feliciano," Ludwig said, "and we didn't see anything."

"So where were Arthur and Alfred all day? And what was the other Vargas up to?"

"Around," his eyes narrowed, "You'll have to ask them yourself. It's hard enough keeping tabs on my brother, Mr. Wright. I can't possibly know where everyone is all the time, as convenient as that would be," Ludwig handed me the room key for 204 and looked up something on a list. "Because we booked the entire hotel, there were no free rooms left, so you'll have to take Alfred's, since he's not using it. In order to cut back on international incidents from happening during these meetings we have managed, through trial and error, to come up with a roommate system that works, for the most part. Since you're taking Alfred's room, you'll be rooming with Arthur Kirkland."

(Well that saves me the trouble of tracking him down.) "Where's Maya staying?"

"A lot of people haven't bothered coming yet when they heard about what happened, so she took one of theirs. She's staying in room 210 with Elizaveta Hedervary from Hungary."

"So her and Specs came after all?" Gilbert laughed, but it seemed forced, "she told me she wasn't coming…"

Francis shook his head, "Probably because she wants nothing to do with you, _mon ami_."

"Will you be able to find the room on your own?" Ludwig asked.

"Yeah," I nodded, "I should be fine."

"You just seem don't seem like a very reliable person. Ah, no offense," he rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, "This whole incident has us very shaken and we all want Alfred to get off. Forgive me if I'm rude, I'm just, concerned. I'm sure you're a halfway decent lawyer. Matt must have picked you for a reason after all."

"There are better lawyers in Germany," Gilbert muttered.

"You should go rest, _Monsieur_ Lawyer," Francis put his hand on my shoulder and led me away from the bar, "You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow, _oui_?"

* * *

**March 15, 7:30 PM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Second Floor.**

I took my leave and went up to the second floor, deciding to stop by Maya's room first.

(Which room was she in again? 212 right?) I knocked on the door and a tall blond man with glasses answered it with the scariest expression on his face that I've ever seen.

"Hn?" he grunted.

"Berwald?" a man shouted from inside the room, "Is that room service?"

"S-sorry! Wrong room!" He grunted again and closed the door.

(I wonder where he's from…anyway, I guess Maya's was 210 then.)

After knocking on this door, a woman with a flower clip in her brown hair answered.

"Oh, are you the lawyer?" she asked.

"Yeah, my name's Phoenix Wright. Is Maya here?"

"She's sleeping right now, but I'll tell her you stopped by. What room are you staying in?"

"204. I'm staying with someone named Arthur? What do you know about him?"

"Oh," her expression softened, "I'm sorry. He can be a bit hard to deal with, especially now that he's worried about Alfred. I don't think I've seen much of him since I've gotten here."

"Are they close?"

"Arthur and Alfred?" she smirked and got a gleam in her eye that made me uncomfortable, "Very. Their relationship is a bit 'special' if you know what I mean."

(I have no idea what you mean.) "Um, okay…"

"Speaking of, Maya and I were talking before, and she told me about you and your prosecutor friend, Mr. Edgeworth?" the gleam intensified, "I heard he was supposed to be the prosecutor for Alfred's trial."

(That gleam's starting to scare me…) "Yeah, but he can't do it. He's looking for someone else."

"Is that so?" the gleam got worse, "Well, have a good night Mr. Wright."

"You too…" she gently shut the door.

 _Elizaveta Hedervary_  
Age: 25  
Gender: Female  
Works for the Hungarian Government. Knows a lot about photography. Very interested in relationships between men.

I went to my room only to find no one there. The beds looked like they'd never been slept in and Arthur hadn't even unpacked his suitcase yet. Someone had already brought my stuff up, so I just kicked off my shoes and passed out on the bed.

(I'm going to need all the rest I can get if these are the people I'm going to have to deal with tomorrow.)

_To be continued._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My headcanon is that France likes to pepper French phrases in his English sentences because it pisses off England and it makes him feel better about speaking English. I only used 'yes,' 'no,' and 'Mr.' here, and it's not going to get any more complicated than that. Germany and Prussia will use German phrases when speaking to each other or... other German characters... but that won't go beyond 'yes,' 'no,' or 'Brother.'
> 
> That's pretty much it for the gratuitous foreign languages (and that one conversation in Italian, but that's much further down the line and not important), which I know is something I like to overuse to the point of abuse for no other reason then I like foreign languages and I like foreign characters speaking foreign languages even if I don't speak the foreign language that they are speaking. Let me know if it gets to be too much and I'll cut back on it, because that's the only way I'm going to get better.
> 
> I've had people complain about it so I'm just going to explain it: I'm using 'Wiellschmidt' over 'Beilschmidt' for the German brothers here. Hima gave Gilbert's last name as バイルシュミット or Bairushumitto. The way katakana works is that the バcan be used to represent either a 'Ba' sound or a 'Va' sound, since Japanese doesn't have a 'V' sound naturally. In German, the 'V' sound is represented by a W, so Bairushumitto can be read as either Wiellschmidt or Beilschmidt. As far as my severely limited understanding of German names goes, both are legit last names, however Wiellschmidt is older and not really in use anymore, which I find super appropriate for Gilbert, since Prussia is older and not really in use anymore. Hima never gave a last name for Ludwig when he was handing out names for nations, but since he and Gil are brothers, they gotta have the same last name, so he gets Wiellschmidt too, even if it's less appropriate for him.
> 
> Okay, that's it for these really long post-chapter notes. I hope you've enjoyed your crash course in foreign languages.


	5. Day 1: Investigation Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix and Maya start their investigation.

 

**March 16, 9:00 AM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Rm 204.**

"Nick…Nick…" Someone was poking my face, "Wake up Nick. We're going to miss breakfast…"

"Stop poking me," I muttered before rolling over and going back to sleep. Suddenly someone snatched the blanket away from my sleeping form, exposing it to the cold chill of the room.

"What the, oh, Maya it's you," I yawned before it hit me, "Wait, how did you get in here?"

"Some eyebrows guy let me in. Said I was being a git, whatever that is."

"Must've been my roommate, I guess. Was he even here?" A quick look around to room revealed everything to be exactly where it was the night before, save for a used teacup on the table.

(Did he even use the bed last night?)

"Say Nick," Maya was saying, "I heard from some of the others that you actually took the case?"

"Um, yeah."

"What?!" she shouted in my face, "How could you? He obviously did it! He's evil!"

"No, he's not, and he didn't do it. Even Edgeworth thought so."

"Huh? When did Mr. Edgeworth say that?"

"He was there yesterday-"

"He must have used his evil mind-control abilities on Mr. Edgeworth! I heard all about them on the news this morning! It's the only explanation!"

(Or Alfred Jones could be innocent…actually the way Edgeworth was talking yesterday it might have been mind control.)

"You can decide for yourself when we go and see him later. What was that about breakfast?"

"It's set up downstairs. Most of the others are already there, and there are a lot of them, so if we don't hurry we won't get anything!" She grabbed my arm and dragged me out of bed to the door.

"Hold on! I need to get ready first! Just, wait outside!" Reluctantly she agreed, and ten minutes later we went down to the lobby.

* * *

**March 16, 9:15 AM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Lobby.**

"Wow," I said as I scanned the lobby, "there sure are a lot more people here than there were last night."

"More came in this morning," Matt said, "mostly to watch the trial, since the meeting is currently postponed indefinitely."

"Oh Matt! Sorry I didn't see you there…"

"It's alright, it happens all the time."

"So, everyone's here for the trial? Are they all Alfred's friends?"

"Not really. To be honest, well, according to him and a few select others, he doesn't have very many friends. It's possible most people are here just to make fun of him. But it's fine, because they would be doing that anyway at the meeting."

"How sad," Maya said.

"I thought you hated the guy."

"I do, no offense Matt, but that doesn't make it not sad. Everyone should have friends, even no good lousy murderers."

"It's fine. Al tends to get on a lot of people's nerves, unfortunately.

"By the way, Matt, have you seen the Vargases around? I heard they were here on the night of the murder and I wanted to talk to them."

"I haven't seen all that much of Lovino, but that's nothing new. Feliciano is probably still at breakfast. Ludwig should know where he is, but I don't think either of them have anything to do with this."

"You never know, one of them might have seen or heard something. Thanks."

He waved as we walked towards where breakfast was being served, and on the way saw Ludwig and Gilbert talking in rapid German to…

"Franziska von Karma?" Maya exclaimed, "What's she doing here?"

"She's probably here for the trial. Edgeworth said he would call another prosecutor in, but I wasn't expecting her. I'm not really in the mood to get whipped this early in the morning."

"Then let's just go. I've already eaten anyway."

(But what about me? I'm still hungry…)

Just as we were leaving the hotel however, Maya accidently bumped into someone, making them both to fall to the ground.

"Ve that hurt," the man exclaimed, rubbing his head as he sat up, "Ah, but you're a cute girl, so it's okay. Are you alright Miss?"

"Yeah, sorry, that was my fault."

"It's okay, I wasn't paying attention. I was trying to avoid the scary-whip-lady talking to Ludwig. She's cute and all, but she's already whipped me three times, and I only just met her."

"Yeah that sounds like Franziska."

"You know her? Oh, you must by the lawyer-guy Francis was talking about! My name is Feliciano Vargas. I'm just a silly little Italian boy who likes pasta and pizza, and I didn't kill anyone, so there's no need to talk to me."

(Why does everyone think I suspect them?)

_Feliciano Vargas_  
Age: 20  
Gender: Male  
Works for the Italian Government. Was in town the day of the murder. Likes pasta, painting, and cute girls.

"Uh, no, I don't think you did it. I'm just trying to figure out what happened."

"Oh, okay!" the tension left him and he smiled brighter, "Then feel free to ask me anything!"

(He's suddenly more cooperative…)

"So, did you see Alfred at all on the day of the crime?"

"Um, not really. My flight came in from Italy late and I was hungry and the airplane guys wouldn't let me eat anything until after we landed. Oh! Yes! Alfred was at the airport!"

"He was?"

"Yes, he was the one who drove us to the hotel."

"Does he usually do that?"

"Not for meetings like this, when there's all of us, but sometimes if it's just me and Fratello coming in he'll meet us. Now that I think about it, he wasn't really talking very much the ride over."

"What happened after he dropped you off at the hotel?"

"Um, I found Ludwig and we went to lunch with Gilbert."

"What did Alfred do? He didn't just leave you there did he?"

"He said he had a meeting with Arthur later, but I don't know much about that."

"So, what did you do that night?"

"Ludwig and I were sightseeing."

"Did you see anything out of the ordinary while you were out?"

All of a sudden he clammed up. Chains appeared out of nowhere, followed shortly by four locks, but he couldn't see them. They were the psyche locks that my magatama lets me see, and it meant that Feliciano had a secret in his heart that he was trying desperately to hide.

"W-we didn't hear or see anything suspicious at all. Nope. Nothing odd or misplaced. Ludwig wouldn't stand for something out of the ordinary like that you know. Not at all."

(He's lying, but I have no clue why or what it could possibly be, so I'll press him on that later, I suppose.)

"Oh! I remember something! Right after we got to the hotel Alfred went to talk to Fratello about something!"

"Do you know what?"

"Probably about tomatoes or something."

"…Tomatoes?"

"Yeah, Fratello likes tomatoes, and Alfred does too."

(I don't think that would be a topic of discussion for two government officials, but there are no psyche locks this time. He really doesn't know, or Lovino does actually like tomatoes.)

"Do you know where your brother is? I'd like to talk to him too."

"No, sorry. He left right after breakfast. He might be in our room if you stop by later though. Room 226, just knock and someone will let you in!"

"Okay, thanks for your help."

"No problem! I don't want to see Alfred get in trouble for this, so I'm happy to help."

"Really?" Maya asked, confused, "with how Matt was talking, it made it seem like not a lot of people liked him. Not that I'm surprised, since he's the Devil's Spawn. "

(Why with every passing moment does he get more and more evil in your eyes?)

"Oh no! No no!" he frantically waved his hands about, "You shouldn't base your opinion of Alfred on his reputation! He's not the easiest to get along with, and while we're not the closest of friends, I've never spent much time with him and he's really very scary if you're on his bad side, I doubt anyone here wants Alfred to be found guilty."

"Why's that?"

Feliciano blinked, and then smiled, "It just wouldn't make any sense!"

(…What does that mean?)

"Oh, scary-whip-lady is gone, so that means Ludwig is free! Ciao!" With quick kisses on several cheeks and a hearty wave he ran off to talk to Ludwig and Gilbert.

"So now what, Nick?"

"I think we need to talk to Alfred again."

* * *

**March 16, 10:05 AM. Detention Center.**

The media mob wasn't at the Detention Center today, and Maya and I were taken to see Alfred right away.

"Oh hey! You're back!" Alfred grinned at us, "Guess what? Edgeworth found a prosecutor who thinks I'm guilty! Isn't that great?"

"You're, happy about that?"

"Yeah! Now we can go to trial and finally get this whole thing over and done with. It's tomorrow, by the way. I'm not sure if anyone's told you yet."

(They haven't…)

"He got you there Nick."

"Oh, is this your assistant?"

"Yeah, this is Maya. Maya, this is our client Alfred. Feel free to pass judgment on him."

His smile faded the slightest bit, "You think I did it, didn't you?"

"Yes. Well no. Maybe? I'm not sure anymore."

He chuckled, "I don't blame you. The media has been going all out with this, but I'd like it if you made your own judgments of me, Miss Maya."

Maya thought about it for a good long while, "No, I think you're innocent."

Alfred smiled. I was just confused.

"You were convinced of his guilt just five minutes ago."

"Yeah, but he smells like freedom. You can't not trust a guy who smells like freedom. I like him."

(I don't think freedom has a smell.)

"Anyway, Mr. Jones, do you mind if we ask you a few things?"

"Ask away! I'm here to help you help me."

"Mr. Jones, what were you doing the night of the murder?"

"I was being arrested for a murder I didn't commit."

"No, before that."

"Running to an alleyway to witness a murder?"

(Is he being difficult on purpose or…?) "Why were you by the alleyway?"

"It was on the way back to the hotel. I had just left Arthur and was walking back when I heard the first gunshot."

"You and Arthur were heading to the same place, weren't you?" Maya asked, "Why did you leave him?"

Alfred pouted. "He was being mean, getting all in my face like that. He knew the way to the hotel, and I was tired of dealing with him, so I just walked away."

(Is it really okay to leave your friend alone in a foreign city like that!?)

"Arthur's tough, and he's been here before, so he was fine. No worries."

(Is he reading my mind?!)

"No, your face just makes it kinda obvious what you're thinking," Alfred smirked.

I cleared my throat and continued, "What were the two of you doing before that?"

"Uh, I can't really talk about that. It's not important to the case at all, just classified government stuff and all that."

"We were talking with Feliciano before," Maya said, "and he said that you picked him and his brother up at the airport."

"Yeah, I don't know if you know this, but Italian drivers are crazy. Plus I needed to talk to Lovino about something, so two birds with one stone and all that."

"What did you need to talk to Lovino about?" I asked.

"Sorry, I can't say. It's just classified government stuff."

(If I get much more of this 'classified government stuff' things are going to get pretty annoying real fast.)

"You mentioned you heard the first gunshot, what happened after that?"

"Um," his brow wrinkled in thought, "I heard the gunshot, went to see what was going on, heard the second gunshot, then got there."

"What did you see?"

"Well, the congressman wasn't dead yet, but he was pretty close. I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye, but when I turned to see what made it nothing was there. I went to try to help the congressman, but it didn't really do much, and that's it."

"That's it?"

"Yeah, well, there was a lot of blood, does that count?"

"You didn't actually see anyone else in that alley?"

He bit his lip and looked away, "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," he stared stubbornly at the wall.

"…Can you look me in the eye and say that please?"

He did, "I didn't see anyone else in that alley."

Chains from nowhere wrapped around the area, accompanied by six locks this time.

(Psyche locks? Here? Why would Alfred lie to me?)

"Mr. Jones, you're a horrible liar."

"I-I'm not lying!" he blushed and slammed his hands on the table in front of him, "No one else was there, I swear!"

"…If you say so."

(He's definitely lying; someone else was in that alley. Who is he covering for, and why is it worth the risk?)

****_To be continued._


	6. Day 1: Investigation Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix and Maya meet a familiar face while investigating.

 

**March 16, 10:33 AM. Alleyway.**

Eventually Alfred had to be taken away for more questioning, so Maya and I decided to see if we could find any clues at the crime scene.

"I'm pretty sure the police turned the alley inside and out," I pointed out, "After all, this was a government official that got killed by another government official."

"You never know until you check! Don't give up so easily Nick!"

(Wow, there are a lot of cops patrolling this alley. I guess that makes sense; this is a high profile case. Still, that's going to make it difficult to get anywhere near the alley, let alone poke around in it.)

"Well if you two aren't the very last people I'd thought I'd find here!" a far too familiar voice shouted.

(What on earth is he doing here?)

"D-detective Gumshoe!" Maya spluttered, "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same about you, pal. The guys here need all the help they can get with this case, so they sent out a call for any available homicide detectives across the nation. It's been kinda slow at the station lately, so the Chief thought I'd be more productive here!"

(More like he just wanted you out of his hair.)

"So what _are_ you two doing here?"

"We're Alfred's defense team!" Maya exclaimed.

"Really? I hate to break it to you pal, but that boy's-"

"Guilty beyond all doubt. You have a mountain of evidence. Media's making him out to be a monster," I sighed, "Yeah, Edgeworth told me all that yesterday."

"Mr. Edgeworth's here?! Is he heading the prosecution?"

"Nope!" Maya smiled, "He thinks he's innocent!"

"What? Mr. Edgeworth actually thinks someone's innocent?"

(It looks like he's rethinking his whole life's purpose.)

"Alright pal! I've decided to help you as much as I can. If even Mr. Edgeworth thinks this Jones kid didn't do it, then he didn't do it!"

"Is that okay? Aren't you on the investigation team that's trying to put him in jail?"

"To be honest with ya pal, they actually kicked me off the investigating team."

"What? Really?" Maya exclaimed, "Then what are you doing here?"

"The local police are done with the crime scene. I was just sent here to keep an eye out for some British guy that keeps poking his head around here."

"Oh! Does he have these huge eyebrows that look like caterpillars?"

"That's the guy, pal. You've seen him around?"

"I saw him this morning. He's Nick's new roommate."

"…Huh?"

"Alfred's brother is putting us up in a hotel room for the trial," I explained, "Apparently there was some international meeting that was supposed to happen, but because Alfred's in jail it didn't, so I got Alfred's room and roommate."

"Well, when you see him again, tell him to stop poking around in this case and let the police do their jobs, okay, pal?"

"Got it. Can we get a closer look at the crime scene?"

"What? You guys are civilians! I can't just let you wander around a crime scene unsupervised."

"But didn't you just say you'd do anything in your power to help us?" Maya pointed out.

"But…"

"And _you'd_ be there supervising us anyway," I added.

"Well, that's true," he sighed and stepped aside to let us duck under the police tape, "Alright fine, but be quick about it."

The white tape around where the body was found was lying in the middle of the alley. Crates were pushed up along the sides of the alley and other general alley trash was scattered here and there, but other than that the area was clear and clean, too clean for any crime scene.

"Hey, where's all the blood and stuff?" Maya complained.

"The police already carted off everything that they thought was useful," Gumshoe explained, "Not that there was much to begin with. It rained that night and washed all the blood and any useful DNA and fingerprints away with it."

_Weather Data for March 10:  
Heavy downpour starting at around up at around midnight and ended at 3:30 AM on March 11._

(What?) "But everyone keeps talking about this mountain of evidence! There can't be nothing!"

"Whoa, relax there, pal. I never said there was nothing, just no DNA or fingerprints. Jones was found covered in the victim's blood right after he died, with the murder weapon and everything."

"But if his prints weren't on the gun, then there's no way they can prove he fired it. Anyone could have."

"It was his gun. He was the only one in the alley. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together and come up with Jones as the killer."

(There has to be some other explanation.)

"Alfred said he saw someone else though," Maya thought out loud, "whoever that was must be the real killer!"

"Hate to break it to you, but there's no way that's possible. Jones was the only one in the alley when the police showed up."

"So, the real killer must have escaped before they showed up."

"To where? This alley's a dead end, pal. Look," Gumshoe pulled out a hastily drawn diagram of the alley, "the body was here," he pointed to an area near the end of the alley, "and the suspect was here," a circle was drawn between the body and the alley's entrance, "Where would your real killer have escaped to pal?"

_Diagram of the Alleyway.  
A diagram of the crime scene. Press Check for more details…whatever that means._

"The real killer snuck past him! There's plenty of room!"

"Yeah, but the police weren't that far behind. The cops at the scene showed up not even a full minute after the shots were fired. They would have seen him."

"And Alfred said he only thought he glimpsed someone," I added, "If the real killer got that close, I'm sure he would have had a better look, and probably had done something about it."

"Nick, you're not helping your case here!"

"What about this right here?" I pointed out a small gap between two buildings that someone might be able to slip though, "Maybe the real killer escaped this way?"

"Hey you're right! Maybe the killer did slip away after all!"

"Where's the gap?" Maya looked around, "I don't see it."

"It's right there," I pointed, "behind, those crates."

"So your miracle gap was blocked off pal?"

"…Maybe the crates weren't there when murder took place?"

"The police have been all over this alley since the night of the murder, pal. Nobody would have had the chance."

(Something's not right. Alfred definitely saw someone else, even if he won't tell me who. How did that person get away? Unless-he let the real killer escape! And he's lying to cover it up!)

"What's up, pal? You've got that look on your face like you've just figured something really important out."

"Oh, it's nothing."

"If you say so. Whoa! Is that the time?"

"What's wrong?"

"It's time to switch shifts. You guys better get out of here before my replacement shows up."

Not wanting to get him or us in trouble, we decided to go back to the hotel.

* * *

**March 16, 11:10 AM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Lobby.**

(Well, the lobby's empty now. No sign of Franziska or the other guests. Guess they're out sightseeing or something.) Just then I heard a piano melody play.

"What a pretty tune," Maya said.

"Don't let him hear you, it'll go straight to his already inflated ego," Gilbert stated, rather loudly, as he came up behind us and headed towards the piano on the other side of the lobby. Elizaveta was sitting next to a man who was playing the piano.

"The only one with an over inflated ego here is you," Elizaveta glared. The man kept playing.

"You know you love me," he responded, "What're you guys still doing here anyway?"

"That's none of your business!"

The man finished his song and looked up, noticing the crowd that had gathered around him. "Oh, Gilbert, when did you get here?"

"Same as ever, Specs. You'll never beat me if you can't pay attention to your surroundings."

"You must be the lawyer and his assistant," he ignored Gilbert and stood to greet us. "Roderich Edelstein. Austria."

_Roderich Edelstein_  
Age: 25  
Gender: Male  
Works for the Austrian Government. A musician with an aristocratic aura.

"Phoenix Wright. And this is Maya Fey."

"Nice to meet you!"

"Pleasure. Ludwig asked me to keep an eye out for you so I could give this to you."

_Arrivals for March 10. DAY 0:_  
Hotel Check-in – 9:00 AM: Alfred F. Jones (US).  
London-Washington DC – 10:10 AM: Arthur Kirkland (UK) and Francis Bonnefoy (Fra).  
Berlin-Washington DC – 11:15 AM: Ludwig (Ger) and Gilbert Wiellschimdt (Pru).  
Rome-Washington DC – 12:00 PM: Lovino (N. Ita) and Feliciano Vargas (S. Ita).  
_Ottawa-Washington DC – 1:25 PM: Matthew Williams (Cnd)._ _ARRIVING DAY 5  
_ _Madrid-Washington DC – 2:30 PM: Antonio Fernandez Carriedo (Sp)._ _ARRIVING DAY 1_

"He said you were asking about it before, so he went and made a copy for you."

"Oh, well, tell him thanks. Do you mind clarifying some things on it for me?"

"It's Ludwig's list, but I shall answer your inquiries to the best of my ability."

(Thanks, I think.) "What's with the abbreviations?"

"Those are everyone's nationalities. It's more of a formality than anything. Ludwig is very thorough."

"What does Gilbert's Pru stand for? And what's with the distinction between South and North Italy?"

"You'll have to ask Ludwig about that. Those are his notes, not mine."

"I thought Antonio was supposed to show up the day before!" Gilbert exclaimed, looking over my shoulder at the list, "Do you know what happened?"

"Of course I don't, you moron. I was just handed the list; how would I know something like that?"

"Hey, no need to get so snippy with me! I was just asking!"

"Maybe we should go before we get dragged into this," Maya whispered as their shouting escalated.

"Good idea. Let's go see if Lovino is in."

_To be continued._


	7. Day 1: Investigation Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix and Maya meet some more of Alfred's friends and get ready for the trial.

****

**March 16, 11:25 AM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Second Floor.**

"Which room was it again, Nick?"

"Um, 220?" Maya knocked.

A blond man wearing a miniskirt and a blouse answered the door.

"Liet," he called to someone in the room, "did you, like, order some weird strippers again?"

(S-Strippers?! Why does he think we're strippers?)

"No, we're lawyers!" (Why is she not fazed by the fact that he thought we were strippers?!) "We're looking for the Vargas' room?"

"Oh, they're, like, totally in 226, you know."

"Thank you!" He shut the door.

(Sometimes I worry about the world if these are the people in charge.)

Maya knocked on the correct door this time, and a man with green eyes and curly brown hair answered the door.

"Hola! May I help you?"

"You idiot! I told you not to answer!" Someone shouted from inside, "Get your ass back over here and help me damnit!"

"Uh, we're looking for Lovino Vargas, but I guess we have the wrong room."

"No no! You have the right room! I'm just helping out," The man smiled and opened the door to let us in. "Lovino, you have guests!"

"Antonio, you bastard! Don't let people in other people's rooms on your own accord!"

_Antonio Fernandez Carriedo_  
Age: 25  
Works for the Spanish government. Has a sunny disposition. Likes tomatoes and cute things. 

_Lovino Vargas_  
Age: 22-23  
Works for the Italian government. Was in town on the day of the murder. Rude to men, but soft on women. 

Lovino was sitting with his arm half-bandaged on the table in the center of the room. Apparently Antonio had been helping him with first-aid when he decided answering the door to be a top priority.

"Oops, you're out of ice Lovi!" He smiled cheerfully, "I'll just run out and get some more!"

"Wait, you idiot, who's going to-" but the door shut and he was left alone with us, "Um, do you mind?" he lifted his arm and asked Maya.

"No problem," she sat in Antonio's vacant seat and continued bandaging his arm.

"Mr. Vargas, my name's Phoenix Wright. That's my assistant, Maya Fey," Maya smiled as Lovino gave her a nod and return smile, "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Chains appeared out of nowhere again, along with too many locks to bother counting.

"You're Alfred's lawyer right? I'm not talking to anyone about anything. It's in your constitution right? I don't have to talk if I don't want to."

"Please Lovi," Maya asked, looking at him with the best puppy dog eyes she could muster.

After very brief moment of deliberation on Lovino's part, the psyche locks disappeared.

(Well that was easy.)

"Ah, I guess I can answer some questions, since you asked so nicely. What do you want to know about?"

"For starters, what happened to your arm?"

"I tripped. Next."

"But, wait-"

"I tripped. It's completely irrelevant to Alfred's case, which I assume is what you're here about. Next question or should I just kick you out?"

(What a poor attitude.) "You were here on the night of the murder, correct?"

"Yeah, for the meeting. That's why we're all here."

"But the meeting wasn't until the next day. Why did you come a day early?"

"Hmph," he scoffed and winced as Maya tightened his bandages, "My brother is an idiot, that's why."

"Can you elaborate for us a little, Lovi?" she asked.

"Well, you see, Feliciano knew that that potato-bastard Ludwig would come a day early. Since he hadn't seen him in a while he had the brilliant idea to come a day early too so they could hang out. I didn't want him to go alone, so I tagged along. That's not a crime is it, Mr. Lawyer?"

"Not to my knowledge," I cleared my throat and tried again. "What were you doing the night of the murder? I'm not accusing you," I added quickly, "I'm just trying to piece together what happened."

The chains came back, this time with only one lock.

"I-I don't see why that matters bastard! It's not like I was anywhere near a murder scene!"

(Why is he so defensive?) I sighed and pulled out my magatama. "TAKE THAT!"

"What the, why is it all creepy all of sudden? Is Ivan here?"

"Mr. Vargas, I'm going to need you to tell me where you were on the night of the murder."

"I, was out with Antonio. He wanted to go sightseeing."

"Really?"

"Yes really! It's not like you were here and can tell me different, jerk."

"Actually, Mr. Vargas, I do have something that shows without a doubt you were not with Antonio the night of the murder…TAKE THAT!" I showed him the arrivals list for March 10 that I received a few minutes ago from Roderich.

"Mr. Vargas, do you know what this is?"

"No, and I don't care, so you can take your paper and-"

"It's a list of everyone who arrived here on March 10. Antonio was supposed to show up, but it says that he didn't actually get here until the next day, the day after the murder."

"A-Alfred is, not very good with paper work. He must have been mistaken."

"I didn't get it from Alfred, I got it from Ludwig."

"…damnit."

The psyche lock broke and the chains disappeared.

"So where were you really on the night of the murder?"

He stared at the table and took a deep breath before answering, "I was with Gilbert and Francis. They were bar hopping and needed a third player. Since Antonio wasn't there they dragged me along."

(That's it?) "Why lie?"

"Have you met Gilbert and Francis? Plus they were so wasted they don't remember I was there, so it's not a very good alibi."

"I already said-"

"I know! But you can never be too careful when there's murder involved, especially since Alfred's taken an extra dose of stupid pills this week."

"What are you talking about?"

"Che, you're not much of an investigator are you."

Maya finished bandaging his arm and sat up,"What do you mean Lovi? Please tell us!"

Lovino sighed, "Since you asked so nicely," (I've been asking nicely the whole time!) "Well, you know we're all government officials by now, yes?" Maya and I nodded, "So, in this day and age where corruption runs rampart and governmental cover-ups are the norm, why do you think this case is so public?"

"Well, um, it's a murder case. A congressman was killed. It's much more serious than an affair or a bad check."

"Governments have been covering up nasty murders for centuries, believe me. And I'll let you in on a little secret: Alfred is much higher on the chain of command than some Congressman. With a word from him, this whole affair could be buried so deep the light of day is but a myth."

"So," Maya said, deep in thought, "you're saying that if Alfred could have, covered the whole thing up?"

"Exactly. It's completely within his power to pretend the whole incident never happened and dear Congressman Smith was killed by natural causes out of town. Or it was. Now It's spun out of his control, mostly due to his media being asshats and his inability to just shut the fuck up."

"What, but, that doesn't make sense!"

"Tell me about it."

(If Alfred could have just covered this up, why go through with the trial? Whoever he's protecting would be safer if this whole thing just went away! Why is he doing this?)

Just then Antonio chose to come back, holding the bucket of ice and talking on his cell phone in rapid Spanish.

"Lovino, you have a call," he said, handing the phone over.

"Damnit Antonio I don't want to talk to him!"

"Please? He says it's important." Lovino grumbled, but snatched the phone and started rambling something in Spanish.

"Sorry, but could you two come back later?" Antonio smiled, guiding us to the door, "This could take a while. You understand, si?" And with that we were locked out.

"Well now what?" Maya asked.

(How should I know?)

* * *

**March 16, 11:45 PM. Alleyway.**

"Nick," Maya complained, "Why are we back here? Gumshoe said the police already got everything."

"You never know. The police have missed stuff before."

"We're not supposed to be here though."

"Its fine, no one's here."

"Who's that?!" Maya quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me behind one of the crates as a figure came down the alley.

"Oh! I know you!" Maya jumped out, startling the man who backed up against the nearby wall.

"Bloody hell!" he shouted, "You gave me a fright there. What are you doing here?"

"Maya, who is this?"

"Eyebrows!"

"Eyebrows?" (They are really big, almost like caterpillars. Wait a moment, British, caterpillar eyebrows, why does that sound familiar?)

"Git. The name's Kirkland. Arthur Kirkland. Don't forget it."

_Arthur Kirkland_  
Gender: Male  
Age: 23  
Works for the British government. Was with Alfred on the night of the crime. Says he's a gentleman, but has an abrasive personality. 

"You're Alfred's lawyer right?" he asked, "I thought you looked familiar. Sorry I haven't been around much. I heard you wanted to speak with me?"

"Um, yeah, if you don't mind."

"Don't let his Britishness intimidate you Nick!" Maya whispered.

"Mr. Kirkland, how is it you know Mr. Jones?"

"Alfred and I go way back. A lot farther than I'd care to admit actually. Our relationship hasn't always been, pleasant, but it is better of late."

"Is that why you're roommates?"

"That is more of trial and error actually. Few people care to put up with Alfred's hero complex."

(I'm sure you have a few personality quirks of your own.)

"You were one of the people who came the day before right?"

"Yes, that's right. Alfred and I had a private meeting beforehand."

"But, I thought everyone was here for a meeting of some kind," Maya said, confused.

"Yes, we were, but Alfred and I needed to have a private meeting to go over some things before we went to the official meeting."

"So many meetings, must get boring after a while."

"I suppose, but there are some other perks about the job that keep it interesting. I'd tell you a bit more if I could, but-"

"Classified?" I guessed. "That's fine. Can you tell me about the night of the murder?"

"There's not much to tell. Alfred and I had our meeting, but I can't really say much about that."

"How many people were there, or was it just the two of you?"

"No, there were three of us, Alfred, his boss, and me. Well four technically if you count my boss, but he was only there through a video conference."

"Who's Alfred's boss?"

"I can't answer, classified and all that. You understand."

"What about-"

"My boss? Same problem. They are most certainly not involved in this in anyway, I can tell you that much."

"What happened after you left?" Maya chirped in, "Alfred said you had a fight."

"We usually do. The boy doesn't take criticism very well, which is a shame, because he needs it."

(The boy? He's only four years younger than you!)

"Can you be a bit more specific?"

"Unfortunately no, I can't. Sorry, but it's just about some classified government information."

(Why is everything classified?)

"One of the hazards of taking on a government case," Arthur shrugged, "Believe me though, if it had any relevance or was able to help get Alfred off, I would tell you."

"Um, Mr. Kirkland," Maya asked hesitantly.

"Yes, dear?"

"Why won't the police let you near the crime scene? The detective we talked to seemed pretty adamant about making sure you weren't allowed anywhere near here. And why are you here now?"

"Ah well," he blushed and looked away, "I've been looking for the second bullet ever since that night. The police-and the prosecutors-believe him to be lying about that since no one's been able to find it, but don't misunderstand! I'm not doing it for him! I'm doing this for myself!"

(What do you have to gain from trespassing on a crime scene to hunt for a lost bullet?)

"Why do they think he's lying?" I asked, "I've heard his story and it seems reasonable. Besides, Mr. Jones is a pretty bad liar."

"The prosecutors have this crazed theory that his bad lies cover up for when he really needs to lie, but that's not the point. They, um, have some convoluted sort of 'evidence' to suggest otherwise."

"What kind of evidence?"

"I can't reveal the prosecutor's case to you. That's almost like cheating."

"You've been talking to the prosecutors?"

"Well, yes, I'm sort of, er, a witness?" He blushed again and refused to make eye contact.

"What?"

(Edgeworth did mention something about this yesterday, but still, Arthur?)

"You witnessed the crime?!" Maya asked, completely shocked.

"Well, sort of, it's a bit, complicated."

"Did you see Alfred shot the guy or didn't you?" I asked.

"What the, of course I didn't! How could I see something that didn't happen?"

"Then how can you be a witness for the prosecution?"

Arthur blanched and swallowed. Suddenly chains sprang out of nowhere accompanied by several psyche locks.

"That's not really important right now, now is it? You chaps feeling famished? I could sure go for some fish and chips right now; blimey I haven't been this exhausted since that football match that one time…"

(More psyche locks. Why is it that everyone seems to have a secret? I guess whatever he's hiding I can get out of him at the trial tomorrow.)

"Have you been able to find the second bullet yet?" Maya asked.

"No, not yet, not that these bloody American cops will let me anywhere near the bleeding alleyway."

"Well there don't seem to be any now, why don't we look together?"

"I've been searching for it for days," Arthur said, "I doubt you'll be able to just waltz in here and-"

"Found it!" Maya practically squealed.

"You, what now?"

"It's right there," She pointed up near the top of the right wall, and sure enough, after Arthur and I came to examine the spot where she was pointing, there was what appeared to be a bullet hole, complete with a bullet.

"Brilliant," Arthur mumbled, "How are we supposed to get it out to check if it's the correct one?"

"I'm sure we'll think of something." (I just wonder how it got up there in the first place.)

_Second Bullet  
Another bullet found in the alleyway. Found in the wall above where the murder took place. No way to check for ballistics yet._

"Hey! What are you three doing here?" A police officer shouted from the other end of the alley.

"Bollocks, they've switched shifts finally," Arthur muttered.

"W-we were just leaving."

"See that you do! This is a crime scene you know."

After that, Arthur agreed to treat us to lunch and take us back to the hotel so we could prepare our defense. There wasn't much and there were still a few questions left to be answered, but perhaps the trial tomorrow would shed some light.

_To be continued._   



	8. Day 2: Trial Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial begins.

**March 17, 9:47 AM. District Court. Defendant Lobby No. 3.**

"Where is he?" Maya complained, "How can he be late for his own trial?"

"Who knows? Maybe he got held up in traffic. Maybe he was overtaken by the angry mob of reporters outside. Anything could have happened."

"Nick, how can you just stand there all calm and stuff when your client could potentially be missing his own trial?"

(To be honest, I'm just too nervous to do much else. The only thing I really know about this case is that Alfred didn't do it, but other than that…I should have spent more time investigating. What did I get myself into?)

"Oh good, you're here!" a voice shouted. Alfred had finally shown up, wearing a military uniform.

(Military?) "You're in the army?"

"Huh? Yeah sorta. I was talking to my boss earlier and he said it might win me some points."

"Is that why you're so late?!" Maya asked.

"Yeah, I had to change. Sorry I made you worry, Miss Maya."

"Just who is your boss?" I ventured to ask, "Yesterday Arthur said he couldn't tell me."

"Ah, well, I can't exactly tell you either, wait, you talked to Arthur yesterday? When?"

"We had lunch together," Maya explained rather cheerfully.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay? It's very noble of you to try and eat Arthur's food but you didn't have to force yourselves."

(…What?)

"Good morning, Mr. Edgeworth!" Maya called out. Sure enough, when I turned to see where she was calling to, Edgeworth sauntered over, glaring at Alfred.

"Hello Edgey!" he greeted, thousand watt smile in place, either completely oblivious to the intimidating aura Edgeworth was giving off or simply choosing to ignore it.

"Can you stop glaring at my client like that? He's nervous enough as it is."

"No, I'm good."

(Well, _I'm_ nervous enough as it is, and a glaring Edgeworth isn't helping.)

"You," he finally spoke, "Why can't I find a file on you anywhere?"

"I dunno," Alfred grinned, "I guess you're just not looking hard enough."

"I've checked with my contacts in all three branches for every position available _including_ the one's you clearly weren't like Senator, Justice, and President, and I could not find any file in any database for any Alfred F. Jones. Why?"

"Clearly you just weren't-"

"I was looking hard enough! Why don't you exist, Mr. Jones?"

"Of course I exist, don't be ridiculous! I can't be standing in front of you right now if I wasn't, and everyone in Washington has a file if you know where to look. How far back did you look?"

"All the way to 2000. Seeing as you're only _19_ , even that's pushing it quite a bit."

"Only to 2000? I'm starting to wonder about your dedication to this task Edgey." His laughter boomed as it echoed around the lobby.

"Don't call me Edgey!" Edgeworth practically growled, "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"No, you're the one who decided to investigate me; you should figure that out for yourself. If I just told you that wouldn't be very fun now would it?"

(Edgeworth did say he wanted to look into him, but why is Alfred treating it like a game?)

Edgeworth rolled his eyes, but apparently conceded the point, "You should get going. The trial's about to start, but I will see _you_ ," he jabbed a finger into Alfred's chest, "afterward to talk about this some more, so don't try and run."

"Wasn't planning on it," Alfred winked before disappearing into the courtroom.

"Mr. Edgeworth what was that all about?" Maya asked.

"Something about Mr. Jones doesn't sit very well with me. I can't explain it so I've been looking into him. I went to talk to him about it yesterday, and he knew exactly what I was talking about, but he refused to tell me anything more except that my hunch was correct and that I should find out for myself."

"What hunch is that?" I asked.

"Mr. Jones is, different. Special in some way I suppose is more accurate, almost like there's a government conspiracy surrounding him, and he confirmed that there was."

"What?!"

"More accurately, he said that many people have tried, and failed, to find out his 'Secret.' He wouldn't elaborate any more on it than that, but he welcomed me to try."

"That's sorta like what Lovino was saying yesterday," Maya said, "That Alfred was powerful enough to cover everything up but chose not to."

"He what?" Edgeworth exclaimed, "Who told you that?"

"Lovino Vargas. He's Alfred's friend from Italy. He's really nice."

(Yeah, to you.)

"What did he say exactly?"

"Um, something about Alfred being higher in rank than a Congressman."

"What's wrong Edgeworth?" I asked, as Edgeworth had looked away and started fidgeting.

"Nothing. This just complicates things I suppose. At any rate, my investigation is completely independent to yours, so pay it no mind. Your trial is starting soon isn't it?" He walked away without another word as we were beckoned by the bailiff into the courtroom.

* * *

**March 17, 10:00 AM. District Court, Court Room 3.**

Murmur murmur murmur

BANG BANG!

"This court is now in session for the trial of Alfred F. Jones. Is the defense ready?"

"The defense is ready, your honor."

"And is the prosecution -YEOW!"

"Foolish fool! Of course the prosecution is more than ready."

"A-Alright then, Ms. Von Karma, your opening statement please, with as little whipping as possible if you can."

"The prosecution's case is perfectly simple: Alfred F. Jones killed Congressman Smith. There is no other option, no matter who tries to spin it any way else."

(Why is she looking right at me?)

"During the trial I will perfectly prove beyond all reasonable doubt Alfred's guilt. That is all."

"Okay then. Feel free to call your first witness Ms. Von Karma."

"YEOW! What was that for?!"

"You should be on your toes at all times, Phoenix Wright. The prosecution would like to summon Detective Dick Gumshoe."

"…"

"State your name and occupation now!"

"Yeow! The name's Dick Gumshoe and I'm a Police Detective."

"And you led the investigation?"

"Well, no. Everyone else was busy, so they let me come here. They told me what to say though."

"Well, tell us what you know then, Detective."

 _WITNESS TESTIMONY  
_ \--What Happened--

" _Mr. Jones called Congressman Smith out to the alley at around 9:00. Most likely to discuss something, but the police aren't sure what at this time._  
_It doesn't matter though. The point is the Congressman said something that Jones didn't agree with and they started fighting._  
 _In the heat of the moment, Jones pulled out his gun shot him in the chest._  
 _The police arrived at the scene only moments later and arrested Jones on the spot."_

"Well, it seems pretty clear what happened, I suppose."

"Of course it is. That's what happened. At this time the prosecution would like to enter Jones's pistol into evidence."

_Alfred's Pistol  
The murder weapon. One of several owned by Alfred. Allegedly stolen the day of the murder. No fingerprints were found on it. Fired twice._

"Alright Mr. Wright, you may begin your cross-examination."

(This should be pretty easy to take apart.)

 _CROSS-EXAMINATION  
_ \--What Happened--

_Mr. Jones called Congressman Smith out to the alley at around 9:00. Most likely to discuss something, but the police aren't sure what at this time._

"HOLD IT! You said Mr. Jones called him? Can you elaborate for us? How exactly did he 'call him out?'"

"Yeah, we found a vaguely threatening letter in the Congressman's office."

"Can we see them?"

"Uh, sure thing, pal."

_Vaguely Threatening Letter  
Found in Congressman Smith's office. Request they meet in the alley at 9:00. Signed 'AFJ.'_

"How do you know Mr. Jones sent this?"

"How many other AFJ's do you know around here, pal?"

"Well I'm sure there are a few… YEOW!"

"If you're so confident, Phoenix Wright, then name one!"

"I, uh, well I can't think of one right now, but I'm sure there are a lot!"

"Ambrose Fitzgerald Jenkins!"

(Maya who are you talking about?)

"Oh? And who's that?"

"I don't know I just made him up."

"Either way, that's still circumstantial at best."

"I think the fact that Alfred Jones showed up is proof enough, but if you want more proof, Phoenix Wright, then let's hear the rest of the Detective's testimony."

_The police arrived at the scene only moments later and arrest Jones on the spot._

"HOLD IT! Can they do that? Just arrest someone for being at the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"OBJECTION! Alfred Jones just finished committing murder. The police have every right to arrest him-"

"OBJECTION!" SLAM! "That hasn't been proven yet! And how were the police to know that if they just stumbled on the scene?"

"Tsk, foolish Phoenix Wright, it was obvious who the murderer was as soon as they arrived!"

"Y-you can't know that for sure!"

"Of course I can. A good lawyer always has evidence to back their statements, Phoenix Wright. Someone on the scene was able to take this photo of the crime scene."

The photo showed Congressman Smith lying dead in the alley where he was found, covered with blood, which was also pooling around him. The gun was lying off to the left side, a little away from the blood, just out of reach, but the real focal point of the picture was Alfred, who was standing off to right, wearing a leather jacket that I hadn't seen him in before, covered in blood.

"WHAT?!"

"And just to prove I'm not playing games, the prosecution also has the jacket in the picture to present as evidence."

_Photo of the Crime Scene  
Taken just after the police showed up. Press Check for more details. Oh wait, you can't._

_Alfred's Jacket  
An old bomber jacket. Worn by Alfred on the day of the murder. Sleeves are covered with the victim's blood. No GSR found._

"What do you think Maya?"

"Well, we know Alfred didn't do it, so Gumshoe's got to be wrong. Just do that thing you usually do and everything should turn out fine."

(Thanks Maya, I think.)

_In the heat of the moment, Jones pulled out his gun shot him in the chest._

"OBJECTION!" SLAM! "Detective Gumshoe, I assume you know what happens when a gun is fired, correct?"

"Of course I do. Someone usually gets shot, pal."

"Can you explain to the court what GSR is?"

"Well, it's sorta, kinda like a, you know that thing where you, you know… Yeow!"

"GSR, or gunshot residue, is a substance that is produced when a firearm is fired, principally composed of burnt and unburnt particles from the explosive primer, the propellant, as well as components from the bullet, the cartridge case and the firearm used. But what does that have to do with anything? Or are you just grasping at straws, Phoenix Wright?"

"When a gun is fired, the GSR ends up all over the hands and clothes of the person who fired it, correct?" POINT! "If Mr. Jones _did_ fire the gun, how could his jacket not have any?"

"OBJECTION! It was raining that night! The GSR on the jacket must have simply washed away."

"OBJECTION! There's still blood on the jacket! If the GSR was washed away by the rain, then why wasn't the blood?"

Mutter mutter mutter.

BANG BANG.

"Order! This is a surprising turn of events. Detective, if Mr. Jones didn't fire the gun, who did?"

"Um, I um…"

"Alfred F. Jones was the only person in the alley other than the victim. Logically he was the one that fired the gun. He must have taken his jacket off before the fight, shot the victim, then put the jacket back on."

"OBJECTION! Then how did the blood do you explain the blood on the jacket?"

"Simple, he touched the body after the deed was done, most likely to check to see if he was actually dead or if he needed to fire another bullet. The blood was transferred to his sleeves then."

(Franziska, does she really think the Judge is going to buy that?)

"Well I buy it."

(Of course you do.)

"But I'm still not convinced enough to safely declare a verdict. Detective Gumshoe, would you mind testifying again?"

"Well, the thing is pal, I've already said my piece so – Yeow!"

"You've already served your usefulness! The prosecution has another witness lined up to erase any doubts the court might have."

"By all means, Ms. Von Karma, call your next witness."

(Here he comes.)

"The prosecution calls Arthur Kirkland to the stand."

_To be continued._


	9. Day 2: Trial Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur gives his testimony.

**March 17, 10:15 AM. District Court, Court Room 3.**

Mumble mumble mumble.

BANG BANG!

"Witness, please state your name and occupation for the court, and where did you get that tea?"

"Arthur Kirkland. I work for the British Government, and I brought the tea from home."

"I'm not sure how I feel about the witness drinking tea while testifying."

"It's an ancient English pastime," sip, "You never get between an Englishman and his teatime, your Honor."

"Still, YEOW!"

"It matters not if he drinks tea or 17 cups of coffee. All that matters is his testimony!"

"I suppose you have a point. How exactly are you related to the case, Mr. Kirkland?"

"Well I-"

"He is a witness. He witnessed the crime."

"But you said Mr. Jones was the only one in the alley during the murder!" POINT! "So if someone else was there-YEOW!"

"Everything will be made clear in time, Phoenix Wright."

"Mr. Kirkland, please tell us what you know about the case."

Sip.

 _WITNESS TESTIMONY  
_ \--What I Saw--

" _Alfred and I had just parted ways._  
_I decided to take a shortcut back to the hotel when I may have gotten a bit turned around._  
 _That's when I heard the gunshot._  
 _I peeked into the alley and saw Alfred, covered in blood, dropping the gun._  
 _The police showed up moments later, and that was that."_

(If that was true, why didn't he tell me that yesterday? Something doesn't add up.)

"Mr. Wright, you may begin your cross-examination."

 _CROSS-EXAMINATION  
_ \--What I Saw--

_Alfred and I had just parted ways._

"HOLD IT! What do you mean by 'parted ways'?"

"I mean we split up. He went one way and I went another sort of thing."

"But you were both going to the same place weren't you? Why not go together?"

"I, um, well, we sort of had a disagreement of sorts."

"A _violent_ disagreement?"

"What the, no! Just because _you_ feel the need to carry a whip doesn't mean everyone…OW! Don't do that!"

"What did you and Mr. Jones disagree about?"

"It doesn't matter, can't even remember all that well myself to be honest."

"It's clear what happened: Alfred Jones initiated the fight so he could get to the alley at the appointed time and murder the Congressman."

"OBJECTION! You don't know who started the fight!"

"Witness, who started the fight?"

"…I did."

(So much for that theory, Franzika.)

"YEOW! I didn't say anything!"

"It was all over your face!"

"Witness, what happened next?"

 _That's when I heard the gunshot_.

"HOLD IT! You said you heard the gunshot. How many did you hear?"

"One, well, I only recall hearing one."

(What?! Arthur was the one looking for the second bullet, but he only heard one gunshot?)

"But, there may have been-"

"OBJECTION! The witness already stated he only heard one. Any information outside of what he recalls is irrelevant at this time."

(So he only heard one, but still believes Alfred's story over his own memory? That makes even less sense!)

"Well, what happened after you heard the singular gunshot?"

_I peeked into the alley and saw Alfred, covered in blood, dropping the gun._

"HOLD IT! Did you see anyone else in the alley?"

"…"

"Mr. Kirkland?"

"…No, just Alfred and the victim."

"Tsk tsk, Phoenix Wright, you're not getting it that easily."

"Well, when did the police show up?"

_The police showed up moments later, and that was that._

"HOLD IT! Why didn't the police question you if you were there?"

"Well, I got out of there as soon as they showed up, but there wasn't anything really to say to them."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, I already told the operator everything I knew." Sip.

"Wh-WHAT?! When did you talk to an operator?!"

"Did I not mention? I placed a 999 call, or what is it over here? 911? Yes that's it, a 911 call as soon as I heard the gunshot. How else do you think the police got there so fast?"

(Why didn't he mention that before?)

Murmur murmur.

BANG BANG.

"Witness! Why didn't you mention _you_ were the one that called the police in the first place?"

"I didn't think it was necessary." Sip.

"Not, how could that not be necessary? What did you say to them?"

"Exactly what I told you, I believe."

"The prosecution has acquired a copy of the call's transcript. Unfortunately we couldn't obtain the actually recording itself, but for the purposes of this court, this should suffice."

 _911 Call Transcript  
A transcript of a call placed on March 10 at 9:30 PM.  
Operator: 911 Emergency response.  
Caller: Whoa hey whoa hey okay.  
O: Um Sir? Can you please state the nature of your emergency?  
C: You sound kinda hot.  
O: Sir, do you have an emergency or not?  
C: What, yeah! Yeah! Yeah I've got an emergency! Some guy's just been shot!  
O: Where are you?  
C: Uh, hang on. I just learned the street name like five seconds ago. Uh, 5_ _th_ _Street. Yeah 5_ _th_ _Street. Right by that building thing._  
_O: Sir, do you know the condition of the man who's been shot?_  
_C: He's bleeding, like a lot. The other guy's helping him, but-_  
 _Background: Is that Alfred? Shit, we gotta go now!_  
 _C: Uh, I gotta go, but call me later!_  
 _O: Sir?_  
 _CALL END_

"…"

"I, may have had a bit too much to drink that night."

"I was under the impression you were at a work meeting with Mr. Jones until that point."

"No one said it was a _dry_ meeting."

(I guess that's possible, but something's still off about that phone call.)

"What I don't get is, who was the voice that identified the defendant? It seems like there was more than one person there at the time. Ms. Von Karma, do you have an explanation?"

"Just a straggler in the background; it's not of any concern to this court."

"OBJECTION! A straggler that knew Mr. Jones? Who just happened to run into Arthur on his way home? I don't think that's likely."

"Well it doesn't matter what _you_ think, Phoenix Wright, what matters is what actually happened."

"Your Honor, I request that the witness gives more testimony about the 911 call."

"Very well, I'm a bit curious as will. Witness, if you don't mind."

Sip. "Of course not."

 _WITNESS TESTIMONY  
_ \--The 911 Call--

" _I made the call right after I heard the gunshot._  
_I was a tad drunk, and a bit disoriented.  
I guess I just never expected Alfred to be in that kind of situation._  
 _The police showed up a lot faster than I expected._  
 _No one else was with me when I made the call, I know that much."_

"You didn't leave anything out this time."

Sip. "Not to my knowledge."

"Alright then, Mr. Wright, you may begin your cross-examination."

 _CROSS-EXAMINATION_  
\--The 911 Call--

_No one else was with me when I made the call, I know that much._

"HOLD IT! Then how do you explain the voice in the background?"

"A random straggler who knew Alfred I suppose. He lives in Washington, so I assume a few people here know him," Sip, "I didn't know they were there when I was making the call."

(Should I press him on that? Or maybe I should just let it be…I won't get anything running in circles.)

"How could you not know they were there? In order for their voice to be heard by the operator, whoever it is must have been pretty close."

"I wasn't in a state of mind to notice all that much, what with the alcohol and the bloody Alfred. I didn't even know another voice showed up in the call until later."

"Well Mr. Wright, is what the witness just said important?"

"Yes, it is," POINT! "I want that added to the testimony!"

"Grabbing at loose ends will only end in your failure, Phoenix Wright."

" _I only learnt about the other person after the fact."_

"Nick, does something seem, off to you?"

"His entire testimony seems off, but I can't pin down exactly what."

"Maybe it's just because he talks funny. There's just something about a British accent that makes you believe he has to be telling the truth."

(Even when he's not.)

_I only learnt about the other person after the fact._

"OBJECTION!" SLAM! "Mr. Kirkland, are you really the one who placed the 911 call?"

"Of course I am, you twat! Why else would I be here?" Sip.

"You said something funny just now: 'I only _learnt_ about the other person…' Who uses learnt?"

"That's proper English, git! What's off is your whole 'learned' nonsense. Utter rubbish. Who would use _that_?"

"Apparently you."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The caller from the 911 call said, and I quote, 'I just _learned_ the street name.' Either you slip into an American accent when drunk or, _it wasn't you who made the call!_ "

SPIT-TAKE!

Murmur murmur murmur.

BANG BANG.

"Witness! Is that true?"

"O-of course not, that would be preposterous. Whoever transcribed the call was an American and clearly butchered my flawless English."

(Ack! I hadn't thought of that.)

"Ooh! Ooh! Wait wait! I have one of those objection thingys!"

" _Mon ami_ , you're doing it wrong. You have to slam the table and point in order to get their attention."

"Right right, I've got this," SLAM! POINT! "EINSPRUCH! I mean, OBJECTION!"

"Who, who are you?! This is a murder trial, not some circus!"

(What the…)

"Gilbert!"

"Herr Wiellschmidt, just what do you think you're doing?" WHIP!

CATCH! "No it's cool, Franzi. I just remembered! See, it's been bugging me ever since you brought it up, but that phone call sounded awfully familiar."

(D-don't tell me…)

"You were the one who placed the 911 call?"

"No, not exactly, but it's my awesome voice that's in the background!"

Murmur murmur murmur.

BANG BANG.

"Order! You mean _you_ were with the witness when he came across the crime scene?"

"God no; everybody knows to _never_ go drinking with Arthur. He's a depressing drunk and a real buzz kill. The lawyer's right, Arthur didn't make the call."

"Witness, is that true?"

Sip. "Um, well, it's certainly p-possible." Sip.

Murmur murmur.

BANG!

"Witness I will not tolerate lying in my court! Miss Von Karma, did you know about this?"

"No. He admitted to the call and no one came forward to contradict him, so I didn't look into it. That was my mistake."

"Why would you say that, Mr. Kirkland?"

Sip. "I have my reasons."

"Care to explain them to the court?"

"Not really." Sip. "I assume you're not going to let me testify after that yes? I'll just be on my way."

"Not so fast, Mr. Kirkland! Lying in a court of law, disrupting a murder investigation, these are serious charges you're facing right now."

"Oh yes, about that. Well, if my status as a British national and my diplomatic immunity isn't enough to get me off, and I see no reason why they shouldn't, I suppose I can make a few phone calls."

"Mr. Kirkland, I don't think you realize the extent of the charges against you. I don't know who you think you can call to get off-"

"And _you,_ your Honor, I don't think you realize just _who I am_." Sip. "I'll have my people call your people to sort this all out. I'll see myself out."

(Arthur Kirkland, a mystery wrapped in an enigma.)

"Well, Mr. uh…"

"Gilbert Wiellschmidt."

"Mr. Wiellschmidt, since you were there would you mind testifying?"

"OBJECTION!"

"What is it, Ms. Von Karma?"

"W-we don't know if he was there! The prosecution doesn't approve of just letting some lunatic testify in this court of law!"

"Aw, Franzi, that hurts."

(Well if Franziska has an objection to it.) "The defense has no objections to this witness and insists on proceeding."

"Very well. New witness, state your name and occupation."

"Gilbert Wiellschmidt. And my job is being awesome."

(That's not a real job!)

"Well, tell us what you remember."

 _WITNESS TESTIMONY  
_ \--What the Awesome Me Remembers--

"…

…..

…..."

"You don't remember anything do you?"

"Not true! I was drinking, with Francis and some other guy, we called him Antonio, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't his name, and we ended up on a roof somewhere."

"That's it?"

"Fool! You're wasting the court's time!"

"Since the witness's testimony proves insufficient, I have no choice but to-"

"OBJECTION!"

"Yes Mr. Wright?"

"Mr. Wiellschmidt's testimony could explain everything! We can't just toss it out."

"There's nothing to toss out. He can't remember anything."

"He might, if we give him some time, maybe."

"It's already been a week!"

"No the lawyer's got a point! One time I accidently sold Feliciano when I was drunk and didn't remember it until a week later! Lovino and West were so pissed. Good times."

(Do I really want him to testify?)

"Herr Wiellschmidt, just stop speaking."

"At this time I am not in a position to deliver a verdict. I am willing to postpone this trial another day in order for Mr. Wiellschmidt to recall what he did that night and for both the prosecution and the defense to continue their investigation and find out who really made the 911 call."

"Yes, your Honor."

"Hmph."

"Then court is adjourned."

BANG!

_To be continued._


	10. Day 2: Investigation Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix and Maya get back to investigating.

  **March 17, 1:00 PM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Rm 204.**

"That was a weird trial," Maya said when we got back to the room.

"I have a feeling it's just going to get weirder from here on out."

"Hm, I guess. But that's what makes these things fun!"

(You say fun, I say a headache.)

"So, what do you think we should do now?" I asked.

"Arthur was lying about the 911 call, right? We need to find out who really made that call."

"That shouldn't be difficult. I mean, we only have nothing to go on."

"Gilbert was with whoever it was all night. Francis was as well!"

"And they were too drunk to remember anything."

"Maybe we can bribe them into remembering? Gilbert seems to like beer a lot."

"Somehow I think that's just going to make things worse," I sighed, "We still need to know what Gilbert did last night. Whether he remembers it or not, he and his friends probably did witness the murder."

"Yeah, and Alfred and Feliciano still had some psyche locks that needed cracking, right? You should get on that."

(Aren't _you_ supposed to be the spirit medium?)

"You know," she went on, pacing the room, "I'm wondering why Arthur lied in the first place."

"People lie for a number of reasons; it could be any of them."

"If you really want to know," a British voice said from the other side of the room, "you could always just ask him."

Maya and I jumped, "Have you been here the whole time?"

"Yes, Matt and I had tea after the trial ended."

"Matt's here too?"

"Not anymore, he was leaving as you walked in. He greeted you on the way out," Arthur said, stirring his tea.

(I didn't even notice.)

"Oh good, now we don't have to wander around this hotel in order to find him," Maya whispered in my ear before turning to Arthur, "So, why _did_ you lie about making the phone call?"

"As I've already said, I don't want to tell you."

"HOLD IT! You said you didn't want to tell the court, well, we're not the court. This can be off the record."

"Stop doing that!" He took a sip of his tea and looked out the window, "What I'm about to say, just, don't repeat it to anyone, especially Alfred or that frog."

"Our lips are sealed!" Maya nodded in excitement.

"Hm," he sat there for a long moment tracing the rim of his teacup with his finger, "I, Alfred and I, how should I put this, I practically raised him. I've known him ever since he was small and I've protected him and kept him safe in the past; he's like a brother to me. I suppose old habits just die hard."

"You lied, to protect Alfred?"

Arthur nodded, "Even after all this time Alfred is one of my closest friends, and I'm not very good at making friends, so to say that," he turned and looked me right in the eye, "I didn't want to risk him going to jail for the rest of his life just because some nutcase thought he saw something he didn't."

"You don't know if the caller was a nutcase."

"You've seen the call transcript. Humans have a tendency to see what they want to see and believe it wholeheartedly despite what actually occurred. I wasn't about to risk Alfred's safety on the slim chance that the real caller hadn't been influenced by the media's ranting and actually did remember what they saw."

"And if the real caller ever did show up?"

"I was prepared to deal with that," Arthur sighed, glanced out the window, and took a sip of his tea before continuing, "Going through with this, he really is a fool."

(There it is again. Lovino mentioned the same thing yesterday.) "Is Alfred really so high up that he could not have a trial if he wanted to?"

"Of course he is. Why do you think that the death penalty was never even put on the table?"

"I thought they didn't have the death penalty here."

"The District of Columbia doesn't, but this involves government officials, and the US government still allows it, although not very frequently. The press has been calling for its consideration, but no one in their right mind would even think about killing Alfred."

"You just said-"

"The media is certainly _not_ in their right mind, but that's not really the point."

"Do you know why Alfred wanted to go through with the trial if he could have made this whole thing vanish?"

"He's an idiot. An idealistic, idiotic fool."

"Can you be a little more specific?"

"As in does he have an actual reason? Yes, he does. Yes, I know what it is, although it really is ridiculous; I think even you would agree with me on that, Mr. Wright. No, I won't tell you what it is if he hasn't yet."

"I guess, we should go talk to Alfred then."

"You should. Oh and um," he blushed before he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a letter, "Because of what happened in court today, he's being a stubborn idiot and won't talk to me. Can you, uh…"

"We'll deliver your letter for you," Maya volunteered.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it."

_Arthur's Letter  
For Alfred. It's sealed with the British Government's Coat of Arms, so don't open it. Looks a bit official for a personal letter._

"What are you going to spend the rest of the day doing, if you don't mind me asking?"

He sipped his tea and placed the cup back in the saucer. "Actually I was planning on seeing if I could get the ballistics on that bullet we found in the alley."

"Really? How are you going to go about that?"

"I have a plan, of sorts. I'm actually just waiting for-"

As if on cue, a sharp knock was heard on the door. Maya, being the closest to it, opened it to let in Francis, a short man I hadn't met yet, and a very large one as well.

(Why does it feel like the temperature dropped ten degrees?)

"Kiku!" Arthur exclaimed, "I specifically asked for your help and your help alone!"

"I'm terribly sorry Arthur-san, but you said the bullet was high up yes? I figured neither of us could reach it, so I asked Ivan-san to help us. Francis-san overheard us talking and 'volunteered' his services."

"Say what now?"

 _Honda Kiku_  
Age: Secret  
Gender: Male  
Alfred and Arthur's friend. Works for the Japanese government. A quiet, serious man who likes mechas and manga. Seems to know me somehow.

 _Ivan Braginski_  
Age: Unknown  
Gender: Male  
Works for the Russian government. Appears childish, but gives off an intimidating aura. Always wears a scarf and seems to be surrounded by cold.

"Ah, Arthur, how could you even think about investigating Alfred's case without my help?" Francis said as he draped an arm around the Britain's shoulders.

"Easily," he elbowed him away, hard. "I'll take Ivan's help because it's easier and less conspicuous than dragging a ladder, but I want the frog out of here!"

"It should be fine, yes?" Ivan smiled.

Arthur glared, "No."

"I suppose if you don't want my help I could go out with Gilbert and Antonio."

"Are you daft!? The last time you three went out you apparently witnessed a murder and then forgot about it!"

"Which is precisely why I should go with you instead, mon cher."

"I am not your cher!"

"Is this Alfred's lawyer?" Ivan asked, looking me over. I involuntarily shivered.

"Yes, this is Phoenix Wright and his assistant."

"It's nice to meet you?"

"Hm," Ivan hummed as he stared me down, "he doesn't look like much. I couldn't go to the trial this morning, is he any good?"

"He's quite good in a pinch," Kiku answered, "and is known for winning the unwinnable cases. Ah forgive me, Wright-san, Fey-san, I haven't introduced myself yet," he bowed.

"It's quite alright," Maya answered and bowed in response, "We were just heading out anyway."

"Yes, good luck on your investigation," Kiku smiled.

"You'll need it," Ivan smiled, although his was less reassuring.

" _Adieu!_ I would escort you, but someone has to make sure Arthur stays in line."

"It's the other way around you damned frog!"

Maya and I scrambled out of there as fast as we could. Who knew when Arthur would start chucking things.

* * *

**March 17, 1:15 PM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Lobby.**

Loud chuckling, a lot of German, and sounds of a whip were heard as soon as Maya and I stepped off the elevator.

(Sounds like Franziska's talking to Gilbert.)

Sure enough, when we made our way around the corner we saw Gilbert sitting in one of lobby chairs, laughing while tugging at an irate Franziska's whip.

"Let go!" she squawked at him, causing the albino to laugh before releasing her whip. "You're as insufferable as ever!"

"You two know each other?" Maya asked curiously, causing Franziska to glare at us and Gilbert to laugh even louder.

"Yup! Franzi and I go way back."

"He's an annoying fool who has a habit of showing up when you least want him. I honestly don't know how your brother puts up with you!"

"He knows his life would suck without me. Anyway, lawyer guy, did you want something?"

"Just wondering if you've remembered anything yet. You're testimony today was, um, interesting."

"I always do my part to liven things up. But nope, can't recall a darn thing yet, though if someone were to stop whipping me it might speed things up."

"I only do it to jumpstart that pathetic thing between your ears."

"Mr. Wiellschmidt, do you remember the third person you were with that night?"

"Not really. We called him Antonio, but that was just because he was replacing the real Antonio. I doubt it was his real name."

"It was Lovino though wasn't it?" Maya suggested, "He said he was with you and Francis that night."

Gilbert's smile fell as he honestly tried to remember. "Lovino…yes, we did drag him out with us at first, but by the time we got to the third bar, he'd split. We picked up someone else there, and he was the one that made the phone call."

(Lovino left?) "What time did Lovino leave?"

"Um, around eight or eight-thirty I think. You can check with Francis on that; he's better with times and stuff."

"Can you remember anything about the fake Antonio at all? What he looked like? If he was even a he?"

"He was definitely a he, but no, not really. I'd remember his voice if I ever heard it again. It sucks though, because I'm pretty sure he owes me money."

(Yeah, that's the greatest tragedy out of all this.) "Do you remember the bar you were at when you met him?"

"Tenth Avenue Freeze Out?"

"I'm pretty sure that's a song about New Jersey, not a bar in DC."

"Well it was on Tenth Avenue somewhere. There can't be too many bars on that street."

(Just what I love, a wild goose-chase.)

"That was your voice in the background in the 911 call right? That's what you said in the trial today anyway."

"Yeah, that's my voice making things more awesome."

"It seems whenever you 'make things more awesome,'" Franziska said, "you tend to complicate them for everyone around you."

"And it's awesome to watch. Try it sometime.

"You-"

"Why," I interrupted, "did you run away when you saw Alfred?"

Gilbert paused and took a deep breath, "For the record, I didn't kill the guy."

"I never said you did."

"I know, I just want that out there. Now, there are five sacred rules for hanging with the Bad Friends. Rule Number One, and this is probably the most important rule you will ever come across: Absolutely no cock-blocking. Ever. It's not cool."

"That's, nice, but I don't see how that-"

"Rule Number Two: Never start a land war in Asia. Seriously, bad decision."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Rule Number Three: No fruity drinks. Except wine. Or tomatoes, because really, those are more like vegetables anyway, and even then, only if you're Antonio."

"Okay…"

"Rule Number Four: If someone ends up outnumbered in a fight, you are required to help a bro out. Unless he's offended you in the last six hours, in which case feel free to help kick his ass."

(Remind me never to go drinking with you.)

"And Rule Number Five: If you see the host, get the hell out. This rule doesn't apply when we're in France or Spain, but nonetheless, it is still vital."

"It still applies when you're the host in Germany?"

"Technically West is the host when we're in Germany."

"And Germans thank god for that," Franzika said, "At least _one_ of you has sense."

"Anyway, that's why we had to leave when Alfred showed up. It's really a buzz kill when we're busted for an international incident right off the bat; ruins the whole week. Do you want me to write those down for you?"

"No, I think we'll be fine."

"I'll write those down for you. Franzi, give me a pen."

"Get your own pen!"

_Five Rules for Hanging Out with the Bad Friends Trio  
The rules Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio use when out drinking. Don't know why I have this._

"Thanks, I guess. We'd better get going now."

"Oh, since you're going out, if you see Feliciano can you tell him Lovino is looking for him?"

"Sure!" Maya agreed, "See you guys later!"

(If Franziska doesn't snap and stab him first.)

* * *

**March 17, 1:35 PM. Detention Center.**

Outside the Detention Center we ran into, of all people, Edgeworth.

"Hello, Mr. Edgeworth!" Maya greeted, "How's your investigation coming along?"

"He's taunting me, I just know it," he glared back at the entrance to the building, "He doesn't think I'll figure it out, but Miles Edgeworth doesn't give up so easily Mr. Jones! I'll show _him_ how _real_ prosecutors investigate! We'll see whose laughing then won't we!"

"Edgeworth," I asked, approaching him slowly, "are you okay?"

"Ah, yes. Sorry about that. My investigation is going fine, how about yours?"

"Just peachy. What did you think about the trial this morning?"

"You have quite the cast of characters to deal with. I'm glad I'm not prosecuting this one."

(Thanks for the confidence boost.)

"Be careful Wright," he continued, "Gilbert Wiellschmidt, despite all other evidence to the contrary, is a brilliant tactician. I'm not sure what, but he's certainly planning something."

"You know Gilbert too, Mr. Edgeworth?" Maya asked.

"Yes, I lived with the von Karmas in Germany for quite some time. Gilbert stopped by every now and then. He looks and acts pretty much the same as he did back then."

"Well, he's only twenty-five and leeching off his brother. He's still just having fun with life I suppose."

"Twenty-five? That's impossible; he was twenty-five when I first met him."

"So, Gilbert lied about his age?"

"Why would he do that?" Maya wondered.

"What do you think Edgeworth?" He remained silent, focus on something far off. "Hello? Earth to Edgeworth, are you there?"

"Yes I agree."

"It wasn't a yes or no question."

"I need to go check something, excuse me." And with that he left.

Maya and I shrugged before going inside to meet with Alfred.

We were let through right away, and Alfred was brought out almost instantly. He was back in his street clothes, looking unusually upset.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I guess. I'm a bit upset Arthur lied like that. He almost messed everything up! I'm sorry you had to go through that."

( _Don't repeat it to anyone, especially Alfred…_ what's up with that attitude? Surely if it means he doesn't hate him, it wouldn't be too bad.)

"Nick!" Maya hissed in my ear, "We promised we wouldn't say anything."

"Say what now?" Alfred asked.

"Uh, nothing. I'm sure Arthur has his reasons."

"I bet their stupid, like him. He's stupid." He pouted and looked away, "Anyway, is there anything I can help you with?"

"You didn't happen to see who made the 911 call did you?"

"Nope. Didn't even know Gilbert and Francis were on the roof."

"You know," Maya thought out loud, "if they were on the roof, isn't it possible that they-"

"No. They didn't. Trust me on this, Miss Maya. They can be jerks sometimes, but they wouldn't kill someone like that."

(Which brings us back too…) "One more time, did you really not see anyone else in the alley with you? Someone who could have fired the gun instead?"

The psyche locks returned. "No, not clearly. Sorry."

(I should really break those, but I don't have the right evidence yet. Something else has been bothering me.) "We've heard that it's entirely possible for you to avoid a trial."

"Uh, well, yeah, I guess so. My boss is actually very upset with me for going through with it."

"Why are you then? Wouldn't it be easier for you and the person you're protecting if you didn't have a trial at all?"

"I-I'm not protecting anyone!" he crossed his arms and pouted, "Besides justice still needs to be served, whether I have certain privileges or not."

"Is that, the only reason you're having a trial? Because you want justice served?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It sets a good example for the others."

(The other what? People at this mysterious meeting? Who are they anyway?) "Speaking of the others, Arthur wanted me to give this to you."

"I don't want it."

"Huh?"

"Arthur almost messed everything up. He _knows_ what this means to me and he went and he still, I don't want it."

"You're not even going to hear him out?"

"I don't have to. I don't take orders from him anymore; I can do what I want."

(Anymore?)

"But, he's still really important to you isn't he?" Maya asked, "It's not an order, it's a request. He wants to tell you how he feels. Are you really going to ignore that?"

He stared at the countertop and sighed, "You really know how to pull on my heartstrings, Miss Maya. Alright, I'll read what he has to say."

I slipped him the letter. Alfred broke the seal, pulled out a piece of paper, and read it through, chuckling when he finished.

"Arthur, you really are an idiot."

"So, you're good now?"

"Yeah, we're good. Tell him, um," he drummed his fingers against the glass, "just, tell him to come see me, I guess."

"Okay!" Maya cheered.

"And, Mr. Wright, uh, thanks. For defending me and stuff. I know everyone hasn't been making it easy for you."

"I'm a defense attorney; I'd be more worried if my job _was_ easy."

"Haha, true enough I guess. But still, thanks. Even if we lose, I'm still grateful for everything you've done."

"If you honestly didn't do anything wrong, then there is no way they can convict you."

"Franziska's good," he said, "better than I thought, and who knows who else might lie on the stand."

"Alfred, I believe you didn't do it. Just give me some time to convince everyone else."

"You're right, Mr. Wright. I believe in you too. Get me off okay?"

And with a smile like that, who could possibly have said no?

_To be continued._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- "10th Avenue Freeze Out" is a song by the great (totally not biased here btw) Bruce Springsteen. Homestate pride.


	11. Day 2: Investigation Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maya runs off with Feliciano, so Phoenix continues the investigation with Ludwig.

**March 17, 1:50 PM. Alfred's House.**

_Alfred's Key  
Key to Alfred's house. Allows us to obtain legal access to his premises._

"Nick, I'm hungry. Why are we here again?"

"Alfred wanted us to 'check up on things and make sure nothing had blown up yet,' but I don't know why he couldn't just have Arthur do it or something."

"Arthur's busy getting the bullet out of the wall, remember?"

(I don't think Alfred knows that.)

Several crashes, some explosions, a laser, and a very loud "Ve" sounded from the side of the house, so, like the logical investigators we were, we went to check it out.

Just outside the fence that separated Alfred's house from the rest of the world, we found Feliciano sprawled out on top of Ludwig, clutching tight at his shirt and muttering something that sounded like "America's house is scary" under his breath like a mantra.

"Hello!" Maya greeted with glee in her voice. Feliciano looked up and beamed at her. Ludwig turned red and pushed him off, but Feliciano took no notice as he sprung to Maya and embraced her.

"Ve, it's the lawyer's cute assistant!" he said before he turned and noticed me, "Oh, and the lawyer too, ciao! What brings you to Alfred's house?"

"He asked us to check up on some things," I replied, "why are you trying to break in?"

"Ve?" he started sweating and gesturing about wildly, "Ludwig needed something but only Arthur and Matthew and Kiku have keys to get in and Arthur and Kiku are busy and _nobody_ can find Matt and don't arrest us!" he finished with a final shriek, "It was Gilbert's idea!"

"Feliciano," Ludwig barked, "lawyers don't have the power to arrest people!"

"S-sorry Ludwig, I'm just really hungry. I want pasta."

"I'm hungry too," Maya sympathized, "Oh that reminds me! Gilbert said that Lovino said he was looking for you."

"Ve? Fratello was looking for me? He must be treating me to a special birthday lunch!"

"It's your birthday?" I asked.

"Why, yes it is! How did you know?"

(…You just told me it was.) "Well, happy birthday."

"Thanks for remembering! Ve, come on cute-assistant-Maya, Fratello's going to treat us to lunch! Or maybe he won't, since it is his birthday too. Oh, but you're so pretty I'm sure he'd treat you anyway."

"That's okay, Nick can treat us all!"

(W-what!?)

"Really? Is that okay Mr. Lawyer?"

"I have his wallet, it'll be fine!" she grabbed his wrist and ran off, "See ya later Nick!"

(When did she take my wallet?! Wait, get back here with that I need it!)

"Bye Ludwig! Let me know what happens with Gilbert's night later!"

Ludwig sighed, then cleared this throat and blushed when he realized he was still on the ground. He quickly stood up and dusted himself off.

"Uh, it's my belief, and most of the others agree with me, that the vaguely threatening letter were not written by Alfred. I, um, needed a sample of his hand writing to do an analysis. That is all."

(I'm not judging.) "Why did Feliciano mention Gilbert's night?"

His blush, if possible, deepened further. "Well, my brother is, not very good at remember things in general, and adding alcohol to the equation doesn't help. For example, he never sold Feliciano; that was Roderich. Elizaveta and I were upset at him, Lovino found it hilarious."

"So you're, what, investigating what he did that night?"

"Well, yes, you could put it that way."

(This could work to my benefit.) "As it so happens, I need to figure that out too. I guess we'll be teaming up for a bit."

"Who said anything about a team up? Don't get me wrong, I do want Alfred out of prison, but some of the things my brother gets into when drunk, well, they may not exactly help his situation. At all. Some of his shenanigans could be labeled as International Incidents and I would rather not have them appearing in a court record."

(I could really use Ludwig's help, especially with his brother and international meeting gang. Maybe there's another way I can swing this?) "You need to get into Alfred's house right? He gave me a key. I help you get in, and you help me figure out what your brother did on the night of the murder."

Ludwig bit the inside of his cheek and looked away for a moment. Eventually he sighed and said, "It seems I have no choice."

A quick handshake confirmed out agreement, and we walked to the front door. It unlocked and opened easily with the key, only to laser gun to be pointed at our heads.

At the other end of the gun was a grey alien. At least, it looked exactly like all the sci-fi movies I've seen depicted creatures from outer space.

"Uh," was all my brain could come up with as it tried to process this

The alien to glare at me, "Who the f*!# are you, bu? Why are you invading with this Kraut?"

"A-Alfred asked me to check up on things, I'm his lawyer." (Am I really talking to an alien? If it's a costume, it's one of the best I've seen.)

"Ah, that's right. I recognized you from the f*!#ing TV," he said after giving me a careful look over, "Are you with him?" He asked Ludwig, who gave a cautious nod, "Then you may come in. My f*#!ing name is Tony. When Alfred's out, I'm in charge."

 _Tony_  
Age: ?  
Gender: Probably male.  
Alfred's housemate. An alien of unknown origin. Hates the English and is very profane.

"What did you want Lawyer?" Tony asked, lowering the gun as we stepping inside, "As you can f*!#ing see, Alfred's house is still intact for now."

"We need a sample of Alfred's handwriting."

"What for?"

"There was a vaguely threatening letter found in the victim's office. The police claim it was written by Alfred."

Tony chucked his laser gun at the wall. It hit with a thud and fired, creating a very nice hole in the ceiling.

Tony was visibly shaking, "Alfred wouldn't f*!#ing threaten a Congressman! Alfred didn't f*!#ing do anything wrong!" he began punching the wall, causing dents and strange marks to appear with each hit, until he ran out of energy and leaned his head against it instead, "This is so f*#!ing messed up," he practically whispered, "He doesn't f*!#ing belong in jail!"

"I know that," I said, approaching him slowly, as if he were a startled animal I needed to calm down, "I'm trying everything I can to get him out, so if you can help us out, please. Anyway you can."

"Right, yeah, fine," he took a deep breath and stepped away from the wall, "Alfred's office is upstairs on the right. You can f#!*ing find something he wrote in there."

As we were walking up the stairs I felt something attach itself to my leg. I looked down and discovered that it was a white blob with bright blue eyes and markings around those eyes that looked just like glasses. It reminded me of Alfred.

"Uh," I tried to shake it off, but that made it latch on tighter and start to crawl up my leg.

Ludwig noticed my predicament and stopped to observe, "I think that means he likes you."

"What _is_ it?" I asked as it made its way to my torso.

"Mochimerica," he said, as if that answered my question, "Kiku made it for Alfred's birthday last year. It eats lettuce."

"Okay," Mochimerica had made its way to my shoulder and was now nuzzling my face, "How do I get it off?"

"I don't really know that much about him. Usually I can keep up with the things that Alfred and Kiku make, but sometimes they make something too complicated and farfetched."

"So how do I get it off?"

"Kiku says he's completely harmless, and Alfred's still alive." He shrugged, "you could probably ignore him and he'll go away on his own."

(This is the same Alfred that lives with an alien! I don't think his little Mochi-thing will just go away!)

"Mochi," Tony called from the bottom of the stairs, "leave the f*!#ing lawyer alone and go play with the whale."

Mochimerica gave me what I'm pretty sure was a peck on the cheek before hopping off of me and around a corner to do I can only assume was what Tony said.

After he finished showing us to Alfred's office, Tony wandered off after him, muttering something about "f#!*ing Japanese pets" before he vanished from sight.

Alfred's office was a mess, which, considering his circumstances wasn't all that surprising. Ludwig let out a puff of air before he started picking things up around the office and placing them in what I assumed was their correct positions.

"Are you actually-"

"I can't understand how anyone can live like this."

(I can, I mean, he's in jail and on trial for murder.)

"Besides, we won't find anything in this mess anyway," he glanced up from the papers he had gathered off the floor, "Are you going to help?"

(I guess there's no reason not to. I could find something helpful to the case, like this, the… the Declaration of Independence?! What's this doing here?!)

"Why does he leave his important documents on the floor?" Ludwig frowned as he took it from me, rolled it carefully up, and placed it as gentle as he could on the top of the bookshelf.

"The cops came in and f#!*ed everything up," Tony commented from the doorway. "Alfred usually keeps his Declaration in the bottom drawer."

"That's not a much better place!"

(That's the real Declaration? I wonder if-)

"There isn't a f#!*ing map on the back. Alfred already checked."

(Still, Alfred's important enough to have an original copy of the Declaration in his office? How high up in command is he anyway? And at only nineteen? Although if Gilbert lied about his age, it's possible Alfred has as well.)

"Hey Ludwig," I said while he was sorting through the papers on Alfred's desk, "you know the Von Karmas, right?"

"Yes, I know most of the prosecutors in Germany, and the von Karma's are quite exceptional at that."

"Does that mean you know Edgeworth as well?"

"Miles Edgeworth? I've heard of him, but we've never met. Why?"

"He's a friend of mine and he said he knew your brother is all. He was adopted by the Von Karmas and apparently he met Gilbert through them."

"Yes, Gilbert still likes to know the Vons, even if the title has lost all meaning. If he lived with them then it's no surprise they know each other."

"I guess so. But it's weird, because Edgeworth said that he met your brother when he was twenty-five, but that's how old he is now isn't it?"

The papers Ludwig was holding slipped from his fingers. He cleared his throat several times and bent over to pick them up.

"To be honest, I'm not sure how old Gilbert actually is. I suffered some sort of head trauma when I was younger, and I don't remember most of my childhood. Gilbert says he's twenty-five, but he could very well be thirty-five. There are numerous reasons to lie about your age, and Gilbert is a trickster, among other things. Most likely he is just messing with your friend. Pay it no mind."

(Even if that's true, he doesn't _look_ much older than twenty-five.) "Do you remember how old you are?"

He frowned and placed the papers on the desk, "Twenty. Can you prove any different?"

"No, I'm just wondering. I mean, if you can't remember how old your own brother really is-"

"From what I could piece together, my childhood was very complicated, Herr Wright," his eyes narrowed as he fixed me with an icy stare, "This path you are going down, this line of questioning, I can guarantee you it has nothing to do with Alfred's case and will not help you in the slightest."

(Is, is he threatening me? I can't tell.) "Alright." I let the matter drop, for now.

We cleaned the rest of Alfred's office in an uneasy silence that was only interrupted by a few bangs from the basement and Tony at one point frantically looking through one of the drawers for some duct tape and a pocket screwdriver.

Eventually we did finish though, but came across another problem.

"He hasn't written anything?" Ludwig looked around the room in disbelief, "No memos or reminders?"

"Doesn't look like it. It's possible the police confiscated most of them."

"But now we have nothing to compare the handwriting to!"

"Alfred didn't write those f#!*ing threatening letters," Tony said from the doorway, "If you do your job you can prove that."

(I still need proof to do my job. It's one of those lawyer paradoxes.)

"If you just need something to test for his signature, you can always use this," Tony pulled out a piece of paper from somewhere, I really didn't want to question where, and handed it to me.

_Alfred's Grocery List  
Last week's grocery list, written by Alfred. Mostly just hamburgers and coffee._

"Well, can you compare handwriting with this?"

Ludwig glanced at it, "I should be able to when we get back to the hotel."

"Is that all you f#!*ers need?"

"Yeah, that's it for now. Thanks, Tony."

"Feel free to stop by again if you need to, Mr. Wright. Kraut, stay the f#!*away."

We left in a hurry after that.

* * *

 **March 17, 2:30 PM. 10** **th** **Street.**

"Is that all my brother told you about where he was last night?"

"Yeah," I sighed as I glanced up and down the street, "You didn't happen to get anything out of him, did you?"

"I am the sole reason he hasn't created an international incident in the past few years. Why would he make my job easy by telling me things?"

"There are several bars here," I noticed about five just on that stretch of road, "maybe he went to all of them? He did say he was bar hopping."

"Might as well start with this one," Ludwig walked into the closest one, and I quickly followed his lead.

"Excuse me," Ludwig asked the bartender, "Did you notice an albino and a Frenchman in here on March 10th?"

(He can't possibly expect him to remember exactly who's in the bar on any given day!)

"Yeah, I remember those two," the bartender nodded towards an empty spot in the middle of the room, "they owe me a new pool table."

"What did they do to the old one?"

"Do you really wanna know Spikey?"

(Considering its Gilbert and Francis, no, not really.)

"Were they with anyone else?"

"What's with all the questions, kid?" he asked, shooting me a fierce glare, "S'not like they killed anyone."

(That we know of.)

"The albino is my brother," Ludwig reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge of some kind and showed it to the bartender, who went stiff and turned pale, "and I'd really like to know what he did that night."

"They showed up with this really angry guy, started cursing out the whole bar as soon as he walked in the door."

(That's got to be Lovino.)

"He got fed up with them after about an hour and stormed out."

"Did they leave with anyone else?" Ludwig pressed on, "Or was it just the two of them?"

"Now that you mention it, they got pretty chummy with this third trouble maker who kept chasing all the skirts. I think he ended up paying their tab and the three of them left together."

"Do you remember who he was?"

"He wasn't a regular, I know that much. They kept calling him 'Antonio,' but he didn't look Mexican and I that wasn't the name he first gave me. Harry something, Foot maybe? It was a weird name."

(…No, it can't be, can it? Here of all places? No, definitely not.)

"Thank you for your assistance," Ludwig said as we left the bar.

"Are you alright?" he asked once we were back out on the street, "You seem a bit out of it."

"No, I was just thinking. It's not important. So, should we try the next bar?"

"We don't seem to have another option. It's not like this Mystery Man is just going to show up and introduce himself to us."

"Nick? Nick, is that you?" A familiar voice shouted from the other side of the street.

(Of course it is.)

"A friend of yours?" Ludwig asked.

"Unfortunately, yeah. Ludwig, I believe we just found our mysterious not-Antonio."

"You're sure?"

"Positive," I muttered as he made his way across the street.

(After all, when something smells it's usually the Butz.)

_To be continued._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I'm not sure why I censor Tony like that when I don't censor any of the other characters that curse. Let's call it a weird alien quirk.


	12. Day 2: Investigation Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix and Ludwig try to get the really story from Larry and Gilbert. Meanwhile Edgeworth makes a discovery.

**March 17, 2:45 PM. 10** **th** **Street.**

"Larry, what are you doing here?"

"I was supposed to meet up my girlfriend Vivian before she went to Paris for a modeling gig, but she kinda broke up with me before she left."

"So what, you've been wandering the city in a heartbroken daze ever since?"

"Yeah, something like that, but now that Maya's here -" he looked around for her before his eyes landed on Ludwig, "you're not Maya."

"No, I'm not."

"Nick! You jerk! Why'd you go and fire cute little Maya and replace her with some buff guy?! I'll never forgive you for this!"

(Why is that the first conclusion he jumps to?) "I didn't fire Maya; she's just having lunch with some Italians we just met, so Ludwig here is helping me instead."

"Italians?!" Larry sobbed dramatically, "How am I supposed to compete with Italians? They're like, the best lovers in the world!"

"Third best," Ludwig corrected, "Spain and Brazil beat them out, not that I keep track of those things or would know."

"Still, what's wrong with an old-fashioned American lover? Too many women are chasing after those 'exotic lovers,' completely failing to realize what a catch they have right in front of them."

"It is truly a shame," I deadpanned.

"So what brings you to DC Nick?"

"I'm working on the Jones case."

"Really? You're the idiot lawyer who agreed to defend him? Can't say I'm surprised; this case is right up your alley!"

(W-what's that supposed to mean?!)

"But man, what a freakish coincidence it is that we'd both be here at the same time."

"Yeah about that, were you here on March 10th?"

"Sheesh Nick, what's with that transition?"

"I agree," Ludwig nodded, "you could have planned that better."

"J-just answer the question Larry."

"Uh, yeah. I've been here since like, the 8th."

"Did you meet my brother, Gilbert, on the 10th?" Ludwig asked.

Chains accompanied by three locks appeared suddenly from nowhere.

(Psyche locks. Looks like Larry's got something to hide, not that I'm surprised. He usually does.)

"I don't even know who you are, West. How am I supposed to know who your brother is?"

(West? That's a strange nickname to call someone you just met, but it's familiar somehow. Where have I heard it before?)

"So, you did meet my brother."

Larry started sweating, "Y-you don't know that!"

"He's the only one who calls me West. Naturally if you're using that nickname too, it means you've met him at some point and he talked about me. In order for you to have recognized me, he must have been showing you pictures, which means he was either complaining or bragging, and if he was doing either he was most likely drunk. The only logical conclusion is you were out drinking with my brother."

One of the locks broke.

(Wait, we're doing this now? I haven't presented the magatama yet, is this allowed? I guess it doesn't matter as long as we get to the bottom of it, but still. It's the principal of the thing.)

"Well Larry," I asked, "is that true?"

" _Maybe_ I was drinking with your brother and his friend," he conceded, "but you can't prove if it was on the 10th, can you?"

"What?"

"Yeah, so I met them. But it wasn't on the 10th. I've been here since the 8th you know. We could have been out then or even on the 9th."

"We weren't even in the country until the 10th," Ludwig said, "There's no way you could have gone out with them before that date."

"Yeah, that's what you say, but international flight can mess with your internal calendar, or so I hear. Can you prove that's when you were actually here?"

"Herr Wright, do you still have the list I had Roderich give you?"

"What? Oh, yeah. TAKE THAT!"

"What's that?"

"That," Ludwig answered, "is a list of everyone involved with this case that showed up on March 10th. As you can see, Gilbert was not here until March 10th, and the only one in the city before then was Alfred. I can personally vouch that everything on the list is fact. There's no way you could have met with Gilbert any time before March 10th."

"Yeah, alright," Larry started fidgeting, "So maybe we didn't hang out before the 10th, but that doesn't mean we hung out _on_ the 10th."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"It's possible we could have gone out _after_ the 10th right? He's still here after all."

"Larry, don't be ridiculous."

"Do you have proof otherwise, Nick? Do you? If you don't, well, you can't pin anything on me!"

(I haven't actually accused you of anything yet, you know.)

"You said you were out with Gilbert and his friend correct?" Ludwig asked, "A Frenchman named Francis, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yeah, that's right," he nodded, "But it wasn't on the 10th."

"Just Gilbert and Francis?"

"Yup. Just the three of us."

"If you really were drinking with them after the 10th then it wouldn't have been just the two of them. It would have been the three of them, since the real Antonio, their other drinking buddy, didn't arrive until the next day. If you did meet with them after the 10th, the three of them would have been together. Since you failed to mention him, he obviously wasn't there, which means-"

"The only possible date you could have been out drinking with Gilbert and Francis was March 10th!" I concluded.

The second psyche lock broke.

"Alright so _maybe_ it was the 10th, but it's not like we did or saw anything wrong!"

"Larry-"

"No really Nick, do you have proof we did anything wrong?"

(I still haven't accused you of anything!)

"The 911 call, the one we have the transcript for," Ludwig stated, "That's our proof."

"Oh, right. TAKE THAT!"

"How does that prove anything? I'm not the one who made the call."

"Even if you weren't, which I'm starting to suspect you were, we've already proven that you were with Gilbert on the night the call was made. Gilbert has already admitted to being in the call, which means that he was at the crime scene, along with anyone else who was with him that night, meaning you."

The final lock broke and the chains disappeared.

(I still feel like I cheated somehow. Ludwig can't even see the psyche locks and he broke them all.)

"Alright! I confess!" Larry sobbed, "I made the call! But I didn't kill him, honest! I didn't even realize he was dead until I heard about it the next day! You've gotta believe me, Nick, I didn't do it!"

"I believe you, I believe you! But you still left the scene of the crime, Larry. Why did you do that?"

"They dragged me away," he admitted, "Gilbert and Francis. Apparently they didn't want that Jones guy to find them there."

(That matches what Gilbert said, at least.)

"Do you remember what you saw in the alley that night?" Ludwig asked.

"Uh, yeah. I'm pretty sure I still remember."

(Pretty sure?! We're going to need a bit more then pretty sure.)

"It's better than Gilbert at any rate," Ludwig sighed, "That will have to do," he pulled out his phone and started dialing.

"Who are you calling?" I asked, but before he could answer the other end picked up.

" _Ja_ , Franziska it's me."

(F-Franziska?! I thought you were on _my_ side! I feel so betrayed!)

"We found not-Antonio and he remembers, well, something, I suppose."

" _Good job, Ludwig. It's good to know I can count on one of you. Who is he?_ "

"A friend of Herr Wright's, Larry something."

" _Butz?! Larry Butz is not-Antonio?! Please tell me Larry Butz is not not-Antonio._ "

" _Ja_ , what's wrong."

"Is that Franzi?" Larry asked as he leaned in towards the phone, "Tell her I said hi!"

" _Change of plans, Ludwig. Gilbert's testifying instead._ "

"What? That's ridiculous! He can't remember anything."

" _I'll_ make _him remember. Have Larry come here and jumpstart his memory if you must. Trust me this is the lesser of two evils._ "

(I'm going to have to agree with her on that one. I'd like to avoid the headache that is Larry's testimony. Memory or not, Gilbert can't be worse than _that_ , I hope.)

"If you insist. I'll bring him over right away. _Auf Wiedersehen_ ," He hung up the phone and grabbed Larry's wrist, "Come on, you need to help my brother remember what he did last night." With much protesting by Larry, he began dragging him back to the hotel.

"HOLD IT!"

They both stopped and turned to face me. "What is it?" Ludwig asked.

(Larry could hold vital clues as to what actually went down. I can' just let him slip away.) "I, uh, we were supposed to investigate this together! We had a deal."

"You can come too, Herr Wright. No one's stopping you."

"Yeah, quit whining and c'mon Nick."

(I don't want to give Franziska anymore advantages, but it looks like that's unavoidable. She's been talking to Gilbert all day, and if Larry's going to kick-start his memory I should at least be there.) "Alright, then I'm coming too."

* * *

**March 17, 3:00 PM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Lobby.**

"Phoenix Wright! What are you doing here?" Franziska asked.

"Investigating," (Just, you know, my job.) "What about you?"

"Just, you know, my job." She turned and snapped at Gilbert, "Well, do you remember anything yet?"

"Calm down Franzi, I'm just getting reacquainted with the guy. You've got to give it some time for the awesome memory juices to begin flowing. So, not-Antonio-"

"It's actually Larry."

"Whatever floats your boat. What exactly do you remember us doing, and was it as awesome as I recall it to be?"

(You don't recall anything _that's the problem_!)

"It was pretty awesome, yeah," Larry scratched his head as his eyes wandered around the lobby, looking as if the action of thinking physically pained him, "Uh, we went to a bunch of bars in the area, got kicked out of all of them, robbed a liquor store-"

"Gilbert!" Ludwig barked, "You told me you didn't commit a felony!"

"I also told you I remembered what I did that night, and we all know how that turned out. But it's starting to come back, continue not-Antonio."

"Uh, we fled to the rooftops and hung out there a bit. There was a gunshot-"

"One or two?" I asked.

"One. Or two. Maybe three?"

"Fool!" Franziska whipped him, "You were right there! How could you not know!?"

"Ouch! Easy there, Franzi. There was a lot of echoing and I _was_ pretty gone. I can't be too sure. Anyway, we looked over and saw a guy bleeding, so I called the cops. Then that Jones guy showed up and we high tailed it out of there."

"Alfred showed up after the gunshot?" (That means he couldn't have fired it!)

"Yeah, pretty sure - ouch! Franzi, why so cruel?"

"You said it yourself; you were drunk. A compromised witness is a useless witness. Are you _sure_ that's what happened?"

"Yes! Sheesh, that's what I said happened so that's what happened! Is that so hard to believe?"

(Well, you're not exactly known for your honesty, but compared to some of the other things you've testified to, this one is actually plausible.)

"No," Gilbert said suddenly, uncharacteristically serious. It was, well, very off-putting seeing him like that, "That's not what happened. I remember it now."

"For real this time?" Ludwig asked, "You're not just saying that to stop the questioning?"

"Yeah, I didn't see the actually gunshot but Alfred was there when I looked over and-" his face pale, if that was possible, "Franziska, I changed my mind. I don't want to testify anymore."

"Gilbert Wiellschmidt, you completely foolish fool of a fool!" Franzika gave him death glare to end all death glares as she cornered him into his chair, "Do you actually think I'm going to accept that after everything you've put me through today?"

"Sorry about that," he gave a half-hearted chuckle and looked everywhere but her, "but I just realized I'm too awesome for this case."

Larry and I stared at him, trying to comprehend just what was going on. Franziska was about ready to breath fire, while Ludwig looked troubled. She grabbed Gilbert's collar and was dragging him off when sound filled the air.

_99 Luftballons, Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont_

Everyone stopped to stare at Ludwig, who blushed and answered his cell.

" _Ja?_...Where are you? … You're _where_ exactly? … I'm sorry about the pasta but…well where is he? … Where's Maya? … Just stay there, I'll come to you. No, don't move, I'll come to you." He sighed as he hung up.

"What happened?" I asked. At the mention of Maya, I could sense Larry listening intently somewhere behind me.

"Feliciano and Maya got lost in a park. I'm going to go pick them up."

"I'll come with you!" Larry volunteered before a well-aimed whip caught him around the neck.

"You're coming with me, fool," Franziska hissed, "We're solving this riddle and one of you foolhardy fools is testifying tomorrow if it's the last thing I do."

"On second thought, I'll go with Franzi. Nick, rescue Maya in my stead!" Franziska proceeded to drag him and Gilbert upstairs. I sent my prayers and deepest sympathies after them; it was all I could do.

"I guess I'll go with you."

* * *

**March 17, 3:25 PM. Lincoln Park.**

Once we got there, Ludwig and I decided to split up. The faster we found them, the better for everyone involved, and everyone not involved.

I was wandering through the park, keeping my eyes open for Maya, when I found a different familiar face.

"Edgeworth? What are you doing here?"

He was sitting on a bench, looking up at the sky as if it held all the answers, a file in his lap and a young, unfamiliar man next to him.

"Hm?" he looked at me, "Oh, Wright, you're here."

(He seems pretty out of it. I wonder how his investigation is going.)

"Right, Wright this is Im Yong Soo, he's been following me around for the past two days. Yong Soo, this is Phoenix Wright."

"Nice to meet you."

 _Im Yong Soo_  
Age: 15-16  
Gender: Male  
Works for the South Korean government. Has a strong attachment to his 'brothers' Kiku and Yao. Likes the internet, games, and claiming the origin of things as Korea. Has been 'helping' Edgeworth.

"Likewise. So, what's up Edgeworth? You seem, different."

"Do I? I was just thinking."

"About what? Did you find out anything about, uh-"

"Jones? Yes, I finally found his real file. I assure you that was no easy task."

"I helped," Yong Soo added.

"He explained everything to me. Alfred that is, although some of it is quite hard to believe."

"So you know why you think he's innocent?"

"Yes, I do."

"And?"

"Nothing's changed."

(And you've lost me.) "Huh?"

Yong Soo plugged in his headphones and ignored the rest of the conversation. Edgeworth looked back at the sky.

"The sky is still blue, the grass is still growing. Everything is still puttering on as always has." He chuckled, and he actually sounded amused, "I suppose in the end, he was right after all. It didn't really matter."

"Can you update me a little on your train of thought? You've figured out why Alfred is innocent? Mind sharing with the class?"

He smirked; there was the Edgeworth I knew, "What fun would it be if I spoiled the surprise?"

(You've got to be kidding me.) "You went through all that trouble and you're not going to tell me?"

"I told you at the very beginning: you are perfectly capable of doing your own job," Edgeworth stood up and handed me the file, "He _is_ innocent; I have no more doubts about. You better not screw this one up, Wright. I'm feeling a bit generous right now, so I'll give you that to mull over." He turned and walked away, shouting, "Yong Soo, I'm leaving," over his shoulder.

"Ah, wait up Edgey!" He gave me a quick wave goodbye before chasing after Edgeworth.

I sat down and started flipping through the file.

_Alfred Jones File:  
The official file on Alfred F. Jones. Dates back to the 1970s._

_**Alias:** _ _Alfred Franklin Jones_  
_**Aged:** _ _19_  
_**Full Name:** _ _United States of America_  
_**Approximate Age:** _ _195_  
_**Date of Birth:** _ _July 4, 1776 (official),_ _March 26, 1607_ _(unofficial )_  
_**Occupation:** _ _United States of America (Nation)  
_ _**Known Relations:** _ _Canada (Matthew Williams, brother), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Arthur Kirkland, former guardian, friend), Japan (Honda Kiku, friend), French Republic (Francis Bonnefoy)._

(What.)

_To be continued._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first:
> 
> \- Ludwig's ringtone is "99 Luftballons" by Nena. I know like two songs in German from this century and the second one will be making an appearance later.
> 
> \- You may be thinking to yourself "What's Edgeworth been up to? Why's he with Korea? Wtf did he find out? What's going on with him?" The answer to those questions and more will be answered in an Edgeworth-centered 2 part side story, so be on the lookout for that.


	13. Day 2: Investigation Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix has an awkward conversation, then interrogates some Italians.

**March 17, 3:30 PM. Lincoln Park.**

(It doesn't make sense. The file, that is, Alfred's file. How could Alfred be over 100 years old…well 200 now, but still, how? And what does it mean his real name's the USA, and that's his occupation? What does that even mean anyway? Edgeworth must be playing with me. That's the only explanation. This file is a fake…)

"Oh! Señor Wright! Hola!" a cheerful voice greeted. I looked up and saw Antonio, smiling back at me, "You haven't seen Lovino around have you? I'm starting to get worried about him."

"No I haven't. Wasn't he getting lunch with his brother?"

"Eh, was he? I didn't know…" he looked around and his eyes eventually landed on the file in my hands, "Oh is that Alfred's file? I heard your prosecuting friend was looking for it."

"Well, he found it alright." (Not that it makes sense!)

"That means you know right?" he laughed and sat down on the bench next to me, "That's good! I hate deceiving people like that!"

(Deceive what now?)

"The 'human identities thing' is really more of a modern concept," Antonio sighed, "I remember when I was little back in the Roman Empire everybody knew about us, not like today where there's all this hiding and secrets."

(Roman what now?)

"But some nations like their privacy, so we keep it a secret. If I could, I would tell everyone, but I know England and Germany and Russia don't like it when people find out, so I have to keep it a secret too, but it's such a pain!"

(Nation what now?)

"You're very lucky America treats it like a game. Why if we were in China, he'd have you hunted down! He likes his privacy too." Antonio found that amusing and laughed. I was still confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"The nation thing. It's in the file, si?"

As a matter of fact, it was in there, in parenthesis by 'occupation.' "So…what does that mean exactly?"

"Eh? Didn't America explain it to you?"

(America? He must mean Alfred I guess…) "To be honest, I just got this a few minutes before you showed up. I haven't been able to talk to Alfred about it."

Antonio blinked twice before shouting and covering his mouth. "Oh no! I just spoiled the secret didn't I?"

(Not really, since I still have no idea what's going on.) "It's fine, but since you've already done so, can you explain what exactly it is you and the others do? I'm a little confused."

"Well, I'll try. America might be able to explain it to you better, since you're his and everything."

(There's a good place to start.) "What do you mean I'm his?"

"You are an American citizen, si? I can reword that and say you are America's citizen, which you are."

"So he's America? What does that mean?"

"It means he is America. It's like…uh…" he furrowed his brows and tapped his forehead with his finger, "Like, you are Phoenix Wright. America is America."

"But you can't be a country."

"No no, of course not! Countries are pieces of land, and land is good, but you cannot be land! America is a nation."

"…You can't be a nation either."

"Sure you can! Nations are people, and you can be people."

"Nations are groups of people. You can't have just one person represent a group of people."

"But…isn't that what the republic is all about?"

(Well when you put it like that…but still.)

"So what exactly are you guys? You look human, but are you really?"

"Yes, si! We are human. But not."

"…Huh?"

"Well, we bleed and hurt like humans, but if you shot me, I wouldn't die. It would hurt a lot and I'd be very sad and confused, but I wouldn't die. Ah, and if something were to happen to Madrid, I'd hurt a lot too."

"Really? Why?"

"It's my capitol, my center, my heart, my vital regions…you get the idea. Any major city hurts, but the capitol always hurts the worst."

(That would make sense…if anything else we've talked about made sense…)

"Ah, you're still confused aren't you? America, uh, Alfred should be able to explain it to you better."

(I guess that means I should talk to Alfred again, maybe then it'll make sense. I should probably not think about it too hard until then, for my sanity's sake. First things first, I need to find Maya.)

"Ve, see Ludwig!" a chipper voice shouted, "I knew we would find him! And Antonio's with him too!"

Antonio and I looked up to spot Feliciano, Ludwig, and Maya standing some ways down the path. Feliciano and Maya were waving frantically to get our attention while Ludwig was trying to get them to stop shouting and disturbing the peace. Eventually they ran over, Ludwig walking behind them, and Feliciano pulled us into an impromptu embrace which Antonio enthusiastically returned.

"Feli!" He shouted, "What are you doing here? Have you seen your brother?"

"Ve, he and Maya and I went to lunch! We found this little Italian place and even Fratello didn't complain because the waitress was really cute but Maya was cuter but then he had to run off somewhere and I think he's back at the hotel and what's that?" the last part was directed at me and the file still open in my hands.

"Uh, what?"

"W-where did you get that?!" Ludwig almost shouted as he saw what the hyper Italian was talking about.

"A friend gave it to me…"

"Si! That's right!" Antonio stood up and laughed, "Señor Wright knows now! Isn't that fantastic?"

"Really? That's great!" Maya cheered along with him, "Nick, what do you know?"

(I wish I knew.)

"That's not fantastic, that's horrible!" Ludwig rubbed his forehead in frustration, "Why does he even have a file? And why is it so easy to access anyway? I swear it's like he doesn't even care…"

"Well, you're going to have to ask Edgeworth about that…"

"E-Edgeworth knows too?!" A depressing aura filled the air as Ludwig sat down in Antonio's vacant set. "This is the worst ever…"

"Ve, cheer up Ludwig," Feliciano said, patting his friend's shoulder, "it's not the end of the world."

"No, it's far worse. Now Edgeworth and Wright will just tell everyone…"

"Tell everyone what?" Maya asked, "I want to know too!"

(You and me both, Maya.) "Edgeworth didn't even tell me though, and this file still isn't making sense, despite Antonio's explanation."

Ludwig stared at me in disbelief. "You mean…you still don't get it after reading the file? _Antonio_ is the one who explained it to you?"

"Uh, yes?"

"Then it is not as bad as I thought. Give me the file."

"No, it's evidence."

"It is unrelated to the case. That file's contents are not for the public eye, and having them come out during the trial then it would be disastrous for everyone."

"It's Alfred's file, so I'll give it to Alfred to deal with next time I see him."

"Alfred is in _jail_ right now. He can't do anything with it if he wanted to, just-"

"Ve, Ludwig, I don't think you can win this," Feliciano added, "He's got that look in his eye."

"…I suppose you're right. Just…don't let anyone else see that file. Can you at least do that?"

"Fine."

"Pst, Nick…" Maya whispered, "Can I see the file?"

"I just said I wouldn't show anyone else!"

"But it's not fair, everyone else knows. I feel left out…"

"I'm still not sure what it is I'm supposed to know. Trust me we're still in the same boat here."

"Well, let me know when you figure out whatever it is you know that you're not supposed to."

"Can do."

"If Lovino is back at the hotel, then I should go meet him there!" Antonio announced.

"I'll go with you ve! I need to talk to him anyway."

"Why don't we all head back?" Ludwig suggested, "I want to talk to my brother anyway."

* * *

**March 17, 4:05 PM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Lobby.**

Ludwig left to look for Gilbert, or what was left of Gilbert once Franziska was done with him, as soon as we arrived at the hotel. Antonio and Feliciano started discussing the best way to go about finding Lovino, which somehow morphed into a conversation about pasta sauces. Maya and I hung out by the piano as I updated her on everything I learned that day.

"What?! Alfred lives with an alien?! And you met him?! Some people have all the luck."

"After everything I told you, you pick up on that?"

"Yeah, well, I want to meet an alien too."

"I'll introduce you next time."

"Okay! Now that that's settled, did Gilbert really not want to testify tomorrow?"

"That's what he said."

"Huh. I wonder what he remembered that would make him change his mind like that."

"We'll find out tomorrow I guess." (Assuming Franziska beats it out of him)

"I see you have had a productive day," Kiku said, startling me.

"Oh, I didn't see you there."

"It's quite alright, Naruhodo-san, I was making myself unnoticeable."

"Uh, it's Wright…"

"Ah, forgive me for that. You remind me of someone I know back home."

"It's fine. How did your bullet hunting go?"

"We managed to get it out of the wall, eventually. Francis-san is having some tests run on it as we speak. He should have the results in time for the trial tomorrow?"

"Tests? You're doing more than just the ballistics?"

"Yes," Ivan added as he joined the conversation as well, "We found some blood on it as well! Isn't that interesting?"

"Well it's just the victim's, isn't it?" (Either way, it proves the gun was shot twice in the alley, for whatever that's worth.)

"It probably is," Kiku agreed, "but we wanted to make sure."

"Yes, Alfred's life depends on the outcome of this trial, not to put any pressure on you, of course." Ivan smiled.

(Then why bring it up?!)

"Ivan-san's just being pessimistic, Naruhodo-san. Pay him no mind."

"It's Wright. Phoenix Wright."

"Herr Wright," Ludwig called as he came forward, "Oh, Kiku, Ivan, I didn't notice you there."

"Hello Ludwig-san."

"How's your brother?"

"He's fine, thanks for your concern, Ivan," he cleared his throat and turned to face m, "Herr Wright, I was going to go back to my room and do the handwriting analysis."

(So what does that have to do with me again? Oh right!) "Okay, here you go."

_Handed over Vaguely Threatening Letters and Alfred's Grocery List to Ludwig._

" _Danke_ , Herr Wright. I'll give you my findings before the trial tomorrow. He left with a nod to Maya and the others.

"Mr. Lawyer, Mr. Lawyer!" Feliciano shouted as he tackled me from behind, "We can't find Fratello anywhere!"

(I'm a lawyer, not a detective.) "Did you check your room?"

He blinked as if the idea had never crossed his mind. "Huh, never thought of that. Come on, let's check my room!" Without waiting for my answer, he grabbed my arm and dragged me upstairs.

* * *

**March 17, 4:25 PM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Rm 226.**

"Fratello!" Feliciano shouted as soon as we entered the room. "Are you in here? Antonio and I are looking for you!"

(So why am I here instead of him?) The room was messier then when I was in there the other day. A pile of clothes had been tossed haphazardly onto a chair by the closet. "Where did all of the clothes come from?"

"You think he's hiding in his clothes?" the Italian rushed forward and scattered the pile across the room, "No, he isn't hiding there. Why would he hid in there, ve? Fratello!" He ducked into the bathroom to look for him in there.

Feliciano's clothes-tossing revealed a lone shoe underneath the chair. Curiously, I picked it up to examine it.

(This looks expensive…it must be Italian. Wait…is this blood?! )

_Lovino's Shoe  
Made out of Italian leather. Has unidentified blood splatters on top and on the sole._

(And what's this in it… a paper?)

_Dry Cleaning Receipt  
Found in Lovino's shoe. Heavily stained jacket, shirt, and pants dropped off on March 11._

(Stained with what? Well, if he was wearing the shoe at the time, I can take a guess…)

"Ve, is he hiding in his shoe?" Feliciano peeked over my shoulder to peer inside the shoe. "Don't be silly Mr. Lawyer; Fratello is too big to fit inside his shoe. Well, his feet might, but the rest of him would be a fight fit."

(Feliciano had some psyche locks the other day didn't he?) "Mr. Vargas, can I ask you a few questions?"

"Ve, sure! Ask me anything!"

"Why is there blood on your brother's shoe?"

Sure enough, the three psyche locks from before came back in full force. "I-is there blood? I-I didn't know…that's not Lovino's shoe…i-it's mine…"

"By Lovino's things? And you just told me it was his."

"I-I was lying before!"

"It sounds like you're lying now."

"I-I'm not l-lying!"

(I'm probably never going to get him alone after this. It's now or never.) "TAKE THAT!"

"T-take what? Why is it all now scary? Ludwig, save me!"

"Mr. Vargas, why is their blood on your brother's shoe?"

"I-I told you, th-that's my shoe."

"Has anyone ever told you you're a horrible liar?"

"Ve, all the time…"

"Can you explain how blood got on your brother's shoe?"

"H-he's hurt! Yes! That's his blood! It came from the injury on his arm!"

"And he somehow stepped in his own blood? It's on the bottom too you know. How did he manage that?"

"I-it may look better know, b-but it was really really bad when it happened, ve. I-it got everywhere…"

"How did your brother get hurt?"

"H-he…uh, got in a bar fight? Yes, that's it, he got in a bar fight when he was out with Gilbert and Francis. H-he's not a v-very likable person so F-Fratello getting into a fight is plausible. Yes."

"And Gilbert and Francis didn't back him up?"

"Th-they only hang out with him b-because of Antonio…they don't actually like him very much at all, so they wouldn't have helped him, and he wouldn't accept their help anyway, ve."

"Really? Well I've got something here that says otherwise…TAKE THAT!" (I can't believe I'm actually using this…)

"Ve, what's that?"

"These are the 5 Rules that Gilbert and Francis go drinking with. See rule 4 about 'helping a bro out in a fight?'"

"Ah, um, y-yes…b-but Lovino offends people all the time! He could have easily offended Gilbert or Francis."

"He was only with them for a few hours…and even then, they don't seem like the easiest guys in the world to offend. Do you really think that's what happened?"

"Ve?" The first psyche lock broke. "W-well, he wasn't with Gilbert and Francis the n-night he got into a fight."

"What?"

"Yeah! It happened after the murder, before you showed up, s-so he wasn't with them and that rule doesn't apply!"

"If he didn't get into a fight the night he went out with Gilbert and Frances, how do you explain this? TAKE THAT!"

"That's Fratello's dry cleaning receipt. He needed some things cleaned…dryly."

"Things covered with blood?"

"M-maybe…"

The second psyche lock broke.

"This says he dropped the clothes off March 11th, which means he was wearing them March 10th, right."

"Y-yes…I mean no! I mean, uh…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…um, well, h-he was wearing the clothes he had dry cleaned on the 10th, but th-those weren't the ones he got into the fight in!"

"Then what were these stained with? Why else we he need something dry cleaned if it didn't have blood on it?"

"B-because it was dirty. I-it was raining that night. Yes, ve, it was raining. His clothes got wet and dirty while he was out s-so he got them cleaned. They were very nice and very expensive, so he wanted it done right, ve."

"While he was out with Gilbert and Francis, it started raining?"

"Ve, that's right."

"That can only be a lie, Mr. Vargas. TAKE THAT! The weather data from that night."

"Ve?"

"It says the rain started at 9:20, after the murder took place."

"S-so?"

"At that time, Lovino had already ditched Gilbert and Francis! Mr. Vargas, where was your brother when it started raining?"

"H-he was…he w-was…"

"You saw him didn't you? That night, after it started raining. You and Ludwig saw him covered in blood."

"No! Nononono! Ludwig didn't see anything!"

"So you did?"

"…ve."

The third and final psyche lock broke, and Feliciano started crying.

"I didn't…I'm sorry! Please don't bring Ludwig into this! He was really drunk that night too, so he doesn't remember anything and he didn't know what was going on! H-he didn't even realize that was Fratello, ve."

(I'm not prepared to deal with a crying man! They don't teach us these things in law school.) "I understand…please stop crying and just tell me what happened."

He sniffled and nodded.

_Feliciano was used to dragging his friend home while he was in various states of consciousness. Ludwig never unwound this much in front of anyone else other than him and Gilbert. It made him feel special. But Ludwig was very heavy, it was all that muscle, so he found a place to set him down and rest for a while._

_That's when Lovino appeared out of the nearby alley._

" _Ve, Fratello! What are you…?" Feliciano looked his brother over. His brother, who was wet with rain and covered in blood, "What happened?! Are you hurt?! Are you dying?! I can't be Italy by myself, ve, don't leave me!"_

" _Chigi! Shut up!" Lovino slapped a hand on his brother's mouth, "I'm…well, I'll be okay. It looks worse than it really is."_

" _Wh-what happened? Who hurt you?"_

" _It doesn't matter; just…we need to get back to the hotel, now!"_

" _Ve, wait! I need to bring Ludwig too!"_

" _Just leave that stupid-potato bastard and let's go! We don't have time. We need to get as far away from here as we can!"_

" _But Fratello…"_

_Lovino couldn't say no to that look. He helped carry Ludwig back to the hotel too, despite his injury._

_That's how Feliciano knew how serious this was._

"H-he asked me not to say anything," the Italian sobbed, "so I kept quiet, but Fratello gets into fights all the time! I-it probably had nothing to do with the murder!"

(Lovino, who knows the suspect and was out with the witnesses' hours before the murder took place, was injured on the same night, and those two events were somehow not related? I don't think that's likely.)

At that moment the door opened, revealing a tired looking Lovino, muttering something about "Stupid potato-bastards." He looked up, noticed the situation, and rounded on his brother in rapid Italian.

" _Che cazzo gli hai detto?_ "

" _N-non gli ho detto nulla,_ " Feliciano whimpered back.

" _Ha in mano la mia scarpa e tu stai piangendo. Che cosa gli hai detto?_ "

"Maybe I should just go…" I tried to leave, but Lovino blocked me.

"What the fuck are you doing in here anyway? Tricking my brother into telling lies? Neither of us did anything wrong, so there's no need for all these questions!"

(As long as I'm here, I should try and get the story out of him too.) "Mr. Vargas, where were you on the night of the 10th?"

"I already told you I was with Gilbert and Francis!"

"You didn't spend the whole night with them. Where did you go after you left?"

"Back to the hotel! What does it matter to you?"

"How did you get blood on your shoe?"

"That's my blood! I was hurt!"

"Even on the sole? You were hurt that much even though you spent the night at the hotel?"

"What are you implying, bastard?"

"I don't think this is your blood, Mr. Vargas. I don't think you came back to the hotel after leaving the bar either. I think you were in the alley when Congressman Smith died, and that this is his blood."

Lovino went as red as a tomato and looked away before barely audibly muttering, "Can you prove it?"

"If the blood on the bottom of your shoe matches the victims, it'll put you in the alley during the murder."

His eyes snapped back to me. "So you've got nothing but theories, is that it?" Lovino snatched the shoe from me and started pushing me towards the door. "You may _not_ take my shoe unless you have a warrant, nor may you perform any tests on it otherwise. Until you have proof, your theories are just that, and I'll be damned if you get anything else out of me or my brother!"

By this time he had opened the door and shoved me into the hallway. "Stay away from us or I'll sue your ass for harassment!" With that final statement he slammed the door in my face.

"Nick! There you are!" Maya ran down the hallway to meet me. "What's up? You look a bit shaken."

"I'm not exactly sure Maya, but I think tomorrow's trial just took another twist."

_To be continued._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Naruhodou Ryuuichi is Phoenix's name in Japan. It's Phoenix Wright everywhere else, so that's why only Japan is confused.
> 
> 2) That conversation in Italian is:  
> "What the fuck did you tell him?"  
> "I didn't tell him anything."  
> "He's holding my shoe and you're crying. What did you tell him?"


	14. Day 3: Trial Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The prosecution calls Mr. Jones to the stand."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a bird! It's a plane! It's the next chapter less than a month after the previous one! Collective gasps can be heard around the world! Children dance in the streets! People faint in the streets from awe! Grown men are brought to tears of joy. Mutterings of "I can't believe the author updated in a timely manner" are heard, followed by "this is truly a miraculous day." Every world leader gets together to declare today a national holiday! World Peace is established!
> 
> Anyway, here's the next chapter, where we finally get back to the courtroom.

**March 18, 9:42 AM. District Court. Defendant Lobby No. 3.**

"What?" Maya exclaimed, "So, you really think _Lovino_ …"

"Yeah. He was acting too suspicious yesterday to have nothing to do with this case."

"But still Nick, aren't murders supposed to be the bad guys? Lovino was so nice…"

(He was only nice to you!)

"It wasn't Lovino," I turned around to see Alfred had showed up wearing his military uniform again, a rare, serious look on his face.

"I…never said it was…"

He looked away, "I know how you operate. You're going to accuse him of everything. And normally that's fine, because you pick the right guy, but Lovino didn't do it," Alfred looked back at me, "If you do accuse him, I'll, I'll…I'll confess! I'll plead guilty!"

(What?!)

"What are you saying?!" Maya asked, "You didn't actually…"

"No. No, I didn't kill him," his smile was back, even if it was a bit shaky, "But heroes don't let innocents take the fall, even if the hero didn't actually do anything wrong."

I was looking into his eyes, which were staring intensely back at me, when it clicked. Everything Antonio tried to explain to me yesterday just clicked.

"…Oh," was all I found to say.

Alfred looked confused for a moment before he figured it out and put a genuine smile on his face.

"Edgeworth showed you the file, didn't he?"

"Yeah…and Antonio tried to explain it, but…"

"Really?" he whined, "Oh man, I like it better when I tell them…"

"Well, I didn't actually get it or believe it until I saw you again. That has to count for something."

"I guess…"

"Nick, I'm lost," Maya admitted, "What are you talking about?"

"You told them?!" a British voice shouted, and managed to sound personally offended at the same time.

"Of course not Arthur," Alfred shrugged, "haven't you been listening? Antonio told them."

"No one told me anything," Maya pouted.

"You, you can't just go around telling people things!"

"I didn't, it was Antonio…"

"But you _wanted_ to!" Arthur pointed, "I can see that look in your eyes!"

"Oh come now Arthur," a French voice added, "This is a new day and age. The way information is tossed around to and fro, it was only a matter of time before Monsieur Lawyer and his lady friend found out."

"I still don't know what you're talking about," Maya whined.

"I agree with Arthur," a German voice chimed in, "it was reckless to let them find out, but what's done is done, and we really can't change that, can we Herr Wright?"

"N-no…I guess not," (Does that mean you can stop glaring at me like that?).

"Ludwig," Francis commented, "Why do you feel the need to interrupt out conversation.

"I finished my handwriting analysis on those notes you gave me yesterday," he dove a hand into his suit jacket pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, "I thought you would like to see the results."

_Preliminary Handwriting Analysis  
Analysis of the Vaguely Threatening Notes done by Ludwig. Results are inconclusive, but they definitely weren't written by Alfred._

"So if Alfred didn't write them," Maya asked, "then who did?"

"Clearly the murderer," Arthur answered, "Who else could it be?"

"It's bugging me though," Ludwig went on, "I still have a feeling that I've seen that handwriting somewhere before."

(I know Alfred says otherwise, but it's the only lead I have…) "If it's not too much trouble, could you run another analysis with Lovino's handwriting?"

The four of them stared at me in silence for a bit before three of them burst out in exclamations.

"I told you it wasn't Lovino!"

"I knew it! I always knew Lovino was nothing but trouble!"

" _Mon dieu,_ Lovino. I didn't think he had it in him!"

"It's not…" (How can I explain this without making the situation worse?) "It's true I have reason to suspect Lovino, but if he didn't do it, then I need to rule him out as a suspect, and this is a way to do it!"

"I agree," Ludwig said, "Yes, when I get back, I'll test it against Lovino's sample. He sends me plenty of letters telling me to stay away from his brother, so getting a sample is no problem. If you excuse me," he nodded politely and entered the courtroom.

"I told you; it wasn't Lovino," Alfred glared at me.

"I know that…I just need to make sure…"

Before anyone could say anything else, Detective Gumshoe had interrupted our discussion with a shout of "Mr. Edgeworth!"

"He's…not here," I answered, "This is the defendant's lobby."

"Oh, well, I usually find him in here, so I figured I might as well check, pal."

"Why do you need to see him, if I may ask, Detective," Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"He asked me to run some tests on this bullet for him, so I came by to give him the results."

"Ah," Francis exclaimed, "Those would be mine," he snatched the paper from Gumshoe's hand, "I used Miles's name to get it done faster. Hope you don't mind.

(Why am I Mr. Lawyer, but you're on a first name basis with Edgeworth?)

"You can't do that pal!" Gumshoe shouted, "That's impersonating a prosecutor!"

"I have diplomatic immunity," he waved the detective off as he looked at the results, "Take it up with my people in France you if feel the need to pursue that."

"But I don't speak Italian…" Gumshoe muttered.

(I think someone needs to look at a world map every once in a while. Or maybe a language map.)

"Is there anything useful?" Arthur asked, trying not to be curious but failing.

" _Oui_ ," he answered simply, "It was indeed fired from Alfred's gun, but the blood on it is not Alfred's, nor is it the victim's."

_Second Bullet updated in Court Record._

"It must belong to the real killer!" Maya exclaimed.

(That means, if my theory is correct…)

"You're gonna see if it's Lovino's?" Alfred asked me with a glare.

"…Can you see if the blood belongs to Lovino Vargas, Detective Gumshoe?"

"I can try pal. It might take a while. The only reason I was able to test for Jones's is because he's, you know, the suspect."

"We are very well protected," Arthur stated, "You won't be able to run your tests unless you can somehow prove Lovino is involved."

"Which you won't," Alfred said, "Because he isn't."

(It has to be someone though, and right now it looks like it's either him or…you.)

The bailiff called everyone into the courtroom then, ending the discussion there.

* * *

**March 18, 10:00 AM. District Court Room No. 3**

Murmur murmur murmur.

BANG!

"Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Alfred F. Jones. We ended yesterday due to Mr. Kirkland's inaccurate testimony and Mr. Weillschmidt's need to recall his. Is the defense ready?"

"Yes your honor."

"And the prosecution?"

"Ready, as always, your honor."

"Ms. Von Karma, you may call your first witness."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Ms. Von Karma…?"

"The prosecution calls Mr. Jones to the stand."

(Wh-what?! What happened to Gilbert?)

Murmur murmur.

BANG!

"You want to call the defendant? Ms. Von Karma, I thought we ended yesterday because – OW!"

"Mr. Weillschmidt's testimony will make more sense after we hear Mr. Jones's own version of the events. I would like to hear the defendant's testimony, if that's alright with you, Phoenix Wright."

(Franziska doesn't know Alfred is America, does she? He has a natural charm that would be able to convince anyone of his innocence. Having him give testimony could only work to our advantage now, but didn't Edgeworth say that all of the prospective prosecutors had to meet with Alfred before taking the case? She should know about his charisma, why would she risk the whole case on it? Still, Alfred is innocent, so there's nothing to fear with him giving testimony…right?)

"The defense…has no objections."

"Very well. Mr. Jones, please state your full name and occupation for the court."

"Alfred Franklin Jones. I'm currently being accused of false murder charges."

"Before that, son."

"I work for the US government, I suppose."

"I have to ask, did you do it?"

"Nope."

"…I'm convinced. I'm willing to pass judgment on – OW!"

"Fool! As a defender of justice, it's your job to make decisions based on the evidence presented and that alone. If you let outside influences cloud your judgment, it makes mockery of the entire system!"

"You're right…I don't know what came over me. Mr. Jones, please tell us about what happened.

 _WITNESS TESTIMONY  
_ \--My Heroics--

" _Well, Arthur and I had just gotten out of a meeting._  
_We had a small fight, I forget about what, something stupid probably, so we split up.  
Sometime after that I heard the first gunshot._  
 _On my way to find out where the shot was fired, I heard the second._  
 _When I got to the alley, I saw the Congressman slumped over on the ground, dying._  
 _I went over to help him, but it was too late. The police showed up soon after and arrested me."_

"Two gunshots? I thought yesterday there was only one."

"Well, I heard two. Arthur might have not heard one, but there were definitely two."

"Well, Mr. Wright, you may begin you're cross-examination."

 _CROSS-EXAMINATION  
_ \--My Heroics--

_On my way to find out where the shot was fired, I heard the second._

"HOLD IT! Mr. Jones, you said you arrived after the second gunshot?"

"OBJECTION! The defendant is the only one to have heard this second gunshot. We don't know if it even happened."

"Of course it happened. I heard it, so it happened! And yeah, I got there after the shots were fired."

"Did you see who was holding the gun?"

"No one was holding the gun."

"Was anyone else in the alley with you?"

"…Just the victim. Certainly no one who could give proper testimony."

"Mr. Wright, was that important?"

"Yes, very," POINT! "I want it added to the testimony!"

"Tsk."

(I…don't like the way she's smiling…)

" _No other witnesses were in the alley at the time._ "

_I went over to help him, but it was too late. The police showed up soon after and arrested me._

"HOLD IT! How exactly did you try to help the victim?"

"Just like, check his pulse, make sure he was still breathing, try to keep all that blood inside of him, you know things like that. That's why there's blood on my jacket, because I had to touch him and stuff."

"But in the end, it all amounted to nothing, isn't that right, Mr. Alfred Jones?"

"If you have to put it that way, I guess so."

"Fool, he died! What other way would you put it?"

"It didn't work out quite like I planned." WHIP! CATCH! "This can hurt, you know."

"Insufferable moron! Let go!"

"I think your English is a bit off. The phrase you're looking for is 'optimistic hero.'" RELEASE!

"What I'm confused about is why you tried to help in the first place, Mr. Jones. Surely the normal reaction in these situations is to call the police and get as far away as possible."

"Well, your honor, I'm a hero, and it's the hero's job to help out whenever he can, whether people want him to or not! HAHAHA!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"If you say so, Mr. Jones…"

(I don't know what Franziska is planning with Alfred's testimony, but I have no choice but to find the contradictions and smoke it out. Alfred didn't do it, so I have nothing to fear…right?)

"You know Nick we still need to relate Lovino to this whole mess, if you still think he did it."

"Yeah, but he's not going to make that easy for us…"

"Well, if he's really involved, the contradiction should make itself, right?"

(I hope so…)

_No other witnesses were in the alley at the time._

"OBJECTION! You say there were no witnesses, but did you forget about the trial yesterday?"

"What about it?"

"There was a 911 call. Mr. Weillschmidt also admitted to witnessing the crime. So clearly there were others in the alley!"

"Right. Yes. But…I didn't see them…so I left them out…"

"Mr. Jones, you are on trial for murder. I suggest you don't leave things out of your testimony."

"Sorry your honor."

"Well, be more careful about it next time son – OW!"

"He said so himself: There was no one else in the alley other than himself and the victim, and since we're not dealing with a suicide, the murder can only be," POINT! "Alfred Jones!"

"Wait what?"

"OBJECTION!" SLAM! "The 911 call and Mr. Weillschmidt's statements place at least three other people in the alley! Mr. Jones didn't know about them at the time…who's to say there weren't others in the alley unbeknownst to him as well?"

"Good one Nick."

"The police arrived only moments after the gunshot! If your phantom killer was there, where did he go?"

"Uh…well, that is…"

"He ran away."

"No one asked you Mr. Jones!" WHIP! CATCH!

"No, really, he ran away. I didn't mention it before because I didn't get a good look at him, but there _was_ someone else there too." RELEASE!

(Is he actually going to admit that Lovino was there? He was adamant about making sure he had nothing to do with this case before…what changed his mind?)

"Mr. Jones, I believe this is one of those things you shouldn't leave out that we talked before."

"…Sorry your honor."

"Well as long as you know your mistake. Let's hear about this other person."

 _WITNESS TESTIMONY_  
\--That Unheroic Guy--

" _There_ was _someone else in the alley, other than me and the victim I mean._  
_I…I didn't really get a good look at him.  
I was more concerned about the bleeding Congressman at the time._  
 _He was definitely a guy, I saw that much._  
 _He must have escaped down the side alley before the police showed up…_  
 _I didn't bring it up before because I didn't think you'd believe me."_

"I don't believe you now, foolish boy."

"But it's the truth!"

"And how is this court supposed to believe that, fool?"

"Because I said it was!"

"Mr. Wright…"

"Yeah, I'll do the cross-examination now…" (Before this reaches a new level of ridiculousness)

 _CROSS-EXAMINATION  
_ \--That Unheroic Guy--

 _There_ was _someone else in the alley, other than me and the victim I mean._

"HOLD IT! What about Gilbert and his friends? Weren't they in the alley too?"

"Well, the way I see it, they were more _on_ or _above_ the alley rather than _in_ it, you know? Because they were on the roof…"

"But still – OW!"

"Stop wasting the court's time Phoenix Wright! By now everyone knows they were there. You're the only one obsessing about it."

(Just covering all my bases…no need use the whip.)

_He must have escaped down the side alley before the police showed up…_

"HOLD IT! Side alley? What side alley?"

"There's a small gap between the two buildings. It's really small and can only fit one person, but a grown man could squeeze through if he wanted too."

"Where does it go?"

"To the next street somewhere. I use it myself sometimes as a shortcut when I'm running a bit late."

"Which, for a fool such as yourself, is more often than not, I assume."

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

(Why am I not surprised?)

"Do you think he means Lovino Nick?"

"If so, why not just say it?"

"He's been covering for him this whole time…maybe he's coming out of it in baby steps."

"I don't think this is the kind of thing done in baby steps Maya. This is all assuming he's even telling the truth about this guy in the first place."

"Of course he is! You heard him before. Why would he lie about him?"

"Same reason he's been lying this whole time: to cover for Lovino."

"Well, then you're just going to have to drag the truth out of him! Kind of like you're fishing… metaphorically speaking, of course."

(What do fish have to do with…never mind, I don't want to know.)

_He must have escaped down the side alley before the police showed up…_

"OBJECTION! You said he escaped down the side alley right?"

"Yeah, I did. Because that's what happened."

"I'm sorry Mr. Jones, but that's impossible!"

"What?"

"Have you seen this diagram of the alley? It shows the layout of everything in the alley at the time of the murder, including all of the big, heavy boxes."

"…That's kinda cool."

"Did you notice this box? The one right in front of the side alley you mentioned? The one making it impossible for anyone to use it?"

"Wh-what?"

"The side alley is blocked by a box! There's no way anyone could have escaped down it."

"But…that box wasn't there the night of the murder!" WHIP!

"A likely story, fool. Do you really expect us to believe that?" CATCH!

"But it wasn't! I'm telling the truth! The box wasn't blocking the side alley that night!"

"A foolish excuse from a foolish fool on the end of his rope. Let go." TUG!

"I'm not making things up! It's the truth!" RELEASE! "Mr. Wright, you believe me don't you?"

(It's not a matter of whether I believe you or not, it's a matter of if I can back it up…and I think I might be able to.) "I do. Mr. Jones is telling the truth. The box wasn't there the night of the murder, it was moved sometime after. OW!"

"You're just as foolish as your client. The crime scene was locked down as soon as Mr. Jones was arrested. No one but police and investigators were allowed in the alley after that."

(But Arthur was able to get in wasn't he? And Francis and Ivan and Kiku, and they all have something in common.) "Maybe whoever moved it had enough clearance to get access."

"Nonsense, it is more likely Alfred Jones's is lying. Where's your proof it was moved at all?"

"Right here!" POINT!

"The crime scene photo?"

"Yes. It was overlooked when it was first presented to the court, but as you can clearly see, there is no box blocking the side alley here. The alley actually looked like this."

_Alley Diagram updated in Court Record_

Murmur murmur murmur.

BANG!

"Who could have moved it Mr. Wright?"

"Well, it would have to be someone who could have gained access to the alley, whether they are involved in the case or because they have a high level of security clearance…" (Like Lovino.)

"Those crates are big too, and heavy. Whoever did move it would have to be pretty strong, wouldn't you agree Phoenix Wright?"

"Y-yeah, I guess that would make sense." (What is she getting at?)

"I wonder if there is anyone in this courtroom that has a high level of security clearance and the physical capabilities to move the crates. Mr. Jones, Gilbert Weillschmidt tells me that in the past you have put on, and I'm quoting him here, "an awesome show of super strength, enough to rival even someone as awesome as me." Is that true?"

"I, uh…it's not untrue…"

"OBJECTION! Mr. Jones couldn't have moved the crates! He's been in jail since the night of the murder."

"But that picture was taken right before his arrest. He didn't have to move it after that night, just after that picture."

"He was arrested right after the picture. It would have required a feat of superhuman strength to move it between when the picture was taken and when the police put cuffs on him."

"From what I've come to understand, feats of superhuman strength are right up Mr. Jones's alley."

"Y-you can't prove that!" (It would be impossible for Alfred to have super strength, but I'm still not sure just what America is capable of…)

"No, I cannot. However the possibility is still there. I think we need more solid evidence than the murderer's word of the existence of this mysterious other man. Mr. Jones's testimony was able to establish what we needed to hear from him, that he was alone in the alley at the time of the murder. We are done with him, and I would like to bring in Gilbert Weillschmidt now."

"HOLD IT! He didn't say he was alone! There was someone else with him, this mysterious man. And if there is one mysterious man, there might have been even more that escaped Mr. Jones's notice."

"If they did escape his notice, then his testimony on them would be worthless, Phoenix Wright, and either way, we need a fresh perspective."

"I'm going to agree with Ms. Von Karma. The court will take a ten minute recess and then we will hear what Mr. Weillschmidt has to say."

BANG!

_To be continued…_


	15. Day 3: Trial Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gilbert takes the stand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, three chapters in the span of a month, I am on a roll! Don't stop me now, this train of productivity can only go on wards!

**March 18, 11:27 AM. District Court, Defendant Lobby No. 3**

"You're giving me that look," Alfred said, a bit uneasy for once.

"Look? What look?"

"Yeah, you know that look Matt gives me sometimes when he thinks I completely screwed everything up. You know the one." (Considering Matt's never seen me completely screw up, not really.)

"Mr. Jones, if you saw Lovino at the crime scene-"

"I didn't! He wasn't there! He has nothing to do with any of this!"

(The more you deny it, the more I'm sure he had something to do with it.)

"Alfred," Maya tried, "if Lovino really didn't do it, then there's no harm in bringing him up. He may have seen the real killer!"

"I…guess…" he clenched his hand into a fist and looked away, "Maybe…Lovino was…"

"Gotcha!" a new voice shouted as a camera shutter went off. The three of us turned to see a young man wearing a black vest and tie with a fedora lowering his camera as he pulled out a spiral notepad from somewhere and a pencil behind his ear, "Jones Passes Buck onto Innocent Bystander! What a scoop!"

"…Who are you?" was the only thing I could think of to ask.

"What the, how did you get in?!" Alfred exploded, "I specifically asked for _no_ press coverage!"

"Details Alfie boy, details. Who needs 'em anyway?"

"Alfred…do you know each other?" Maya asked cautiously.

"He's…the media…"

"Sorry Sweetcheeks," he tipped his hat as he kept scribbling things down in his notes, "Ya can call me Mr. Newspaper."

 _Mr. Newspaper (American Edition)_  
Age: 19  
Gender: Male  
The personification of American media. Seems old fashioned, but is actually quite up to date. Has known Alfred for a while. Usually on his side, but will do almost anything to sell a story.

(I guess if nations have personifications or whatever Alfred and the others are, media can too?)

"Stop printing your lies!" Alfred shouted, "You know I didn't do anything!"

"I know I know, but that's the beauty of it," Mr. Newspaper exclaimed as he put his notebook away, "When it's revealed that ya didn't do jack, the story'll be flyin' off the presses! Trust me Alfie boy, everyone'll love ya twice as much after they realize how horrible they've been treating ya."

(What's up with this guy?) "You know the printed word is practically dead."

"Always such a killjoy. It's a metaphor, Jack!"

"My name is Phoenix…"

"Whatever. I meant pageviews! Think of how many new followers my twitter'll have when this story breaks!"

"…Twitter?"

"Exactly. I've already posted this conversation to my blog, and…" he pulled out his cell phone and tapped the screen a bit before chuckling, "Twelve people think you need to do something with your hair. Seven think Sweetcheeks here is pretty cute."

"This conversation is still going one, how can you publish it already?"

"Get with the times Jack, it's the information super highway! The scoop's hitting the presses so fast it barely has time to happen!"

"It's Phoenix. Phoenix Wright."

"Whatever."

"Is that good?" Maya asked, "It seems you're more likely to get stuff wrong if get it out there before it even happens."

"Trust me Sweetcheeks I've been in this business since before it even existed. The faster you get it to the people, the better."

"Still seems like bad practice," I commented.

"Baloney, don't tell me how to do my job Jack, and I won't tell ya how to do yours, assuming you have one."

"It's Phoenix Wright! And I'm Alfred's lawyer!"

"Don't get in a lather Jack, it's all in good fun. I better blow before I get bum rushed outta here. Catch ya later!" with a parting wave, he left as quickly as he showed up.

"That was…uh…" (Can't…put thoughts…to words…)

"I am so confused," Maya said.

(Yes, that works.)

"Yeah, he leaves that impression on people sometimes," Alfred sighed, "I think he wasted all our time too, so Mr. Attorney, you think you can take on Gilbert's testimony?"

"Uh, well…"

"Nick! Don't let the client see your fear!"

(She's right. Alfred has enough to worry about.)

"Of course I can Mr. Jones. I practically have this case won already. Franziska will regret ever taking us on!"

"Too much Nick."

Alfred's smile grew wider, if that was possible, "Awesome! I know you can do it Mr. Wright!"

* * *

**March 18, 11:37 AM. District Court Room No. 3**

Murmur murmur murmur

BANG!

"Court is now in session. Ms. Von Karma, you may call your next witness."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Any day now Ms. Von – OW!"

"The prosecution calls Mr. Gilbert Wiellschmidt."

(And maybe she won't regret it.)

"Mr. Wiellschmidt…Why is there a bird on your head?"

"What bird?" CHIRP!

"The…small yellow bird, sitting right on top of your head…" CHIRP CHIRP!

"If it's awesome enough to stay on top of my head, I don't see why it can't be here too!" CHIRP!

(And considering you let the prosecution have a whip…)

"I suppose if it's not harming anyone, I'll allow it. Mr. Wiellschmidt, do you remember anything?"

"Eh, kinda sorta. It's still pretty vague…maybe I should just…"

"OW! Why did you whip me?!"

"Herr Wiellschmidt, testify now or I whip the defense again."

"Well if you put it that way…"

"OW! Mr. Wiellschmidt please, I'm begging you, tell us what you remember."

"I guess I will, since you asked so nicely Mr. Wright." CHIRP!

 _WITNESS TESTIMONY  
_ \- What the Awesome Me Actually Remembers -

" _Francis, Larry, and I were drinking legally acquired, uh, grape juice, on the roof._  
_We heard some noise in the alley below and naturally decided to look over and see what was up._  
 _The victim guy had Alfred in a corner and took the gun out of Alfred's pocket._  
 _That's when Alfred turned things around and stole the gun, but the guy just kept coming at him!_  
 _He had Alfred pinned on the ground, and that's when the gun was fired._  
 _We got out of there shortly after that."_

"So what you're saying is Mr. Jones killed the Congressman out of…self defense?"

"Yup, it was either him or the other guy, and Al hates losing. You can't blame a guy for defending himself, right?"

"If that's the case than it well certainly lessen the sentence…"

"Of course that's the case! Would I really lie to you?"

"YEOW!" (No love for defense attorneys…)

"Mr. Wright, you may begin your cross-examination."

 _CROSS-EXAMINATION  
_ \- What the Awesome Me Actually Remembers -

_Francis, Larry, and I were drinking legally acquired, uh, grape juice, on the roof._

"HOLD IT! You honestly expect the court to believe you had a black out due to grape juice?"

"Not really, but I'm not going to implicate myself in any further shenanigans than I already have."

"Yes, but – OW!"

"What the witness was doing exactly on the roof doesn't matter at this point. All that matters is what he observed."

"Witness, what was it that you observed?"

_He had Alfred pinned on the ground, and that's when the gun was fired._

"OBJECTION! Witness, you said Alfred was on the ground when he shot the victim?"

"Yeah, he was pushed or something. It's a bit vague." CHIRP!

"But you're sure he was pinned to the ground when the gun went off?"

"Of course! I'm far too awesome to miss something like that."

"I'm sorry Mr. Wiellschmidt, but that's just not possible!"

"Wh-what are you talking about!?"

"I have here Congressman Smith's autopsy report. According to this, he was shot straight through the heart, a shot that's impossible to make if the shooter was on the ground."

"Eh?"

(I've got him-) "OW!"

"Phoenix Wright, I assumed even a foolish fool like you knew the difference between impossible and improbable. Has it occurred to you that the victim was leaning over when he was shot?"

"Yeah! Yeah that's what happened. The guy was leaning over, so Alfred ended up shooting him straight through the heart. I remember now, that's how it went down." CHIRP!

(Of course you'd remember now that Franziska has given you a way out.)

"Witness, I think the court needs more testimony from you."

"Sure Pops."

"OW! What did I do?"

"Herr Wiellschmidt, this is a court of law! Address people properly!"

(And yet you're the one whipping the judge…)

"Whatever you say Franzi."

"Witness, can you tell us more about what happened when the gun went off, with as little whipping from Ms. Von Karma as possible?"

"Sure thing…Pops."

"OW!" (What did I do?)

 _WITNESS TESTIMONY_  
\- When I Heard That Awesome Shot -

" _Well, first the gun went off. That's when Larry started calling the cops._  
_Since he was leaning over, the dead guy fell on Alfred. He seemed shocked by the whole thing._  
_Eventually he scrambled out from under the dead body._  
_That's when Francis and I realized it was Alfred and made a run for it."_

"Witness! You ran away from the scene of a crime?"

"I'm not sure about the others, but I honestly assumed he was sleeping at the time."

(He just saw the guy get shot and he assumed he was sleeping?! What…what kind of man is this?! Or not man, nation? Ugh, I'm confused. I'm just not going to think about that right now.)

"Mr. Wright, please begin your cross-examination."

 _CROSS-EXAMINATION  
_ \-- When I Heard That Awesome Shot --

_Since he was leaning over, the dead guy fell on Alfred. He seemed shocked by the whole thing._

"HOLD IT!" SLAM! "What was Alfred wearing at that time?"

"Uh, clothes?"

"Can you be more specific? OW!"

"Does it matter what outfit he was wearing at the time? He pulled the trigger, the victim died. The same feat could be accomplished whether he was wearing a three piece suit or a tutu."

"He wasn't wearing his jacket, if that's what you're wondering." CHIRP!

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's like Franzi said yesterday, he took it off before they fought."

"And you saw him take the jacket off?"

"No, that was before I looked over. He must have put it back on and touched the body after we left." CHIRP CHIRP!

(That's right; he was at the trial yesterday. I guess I'll have to dig a little deeper for any contradictions.)

"Hey Nick, does something about his testimony seem a bit off to you?"

"Several things, but what did you notice?"

"Alfred said he heard two shots, but Gilbert…"

"Yeah, Gilbert doesn't mention it at all…"

"Do you think…Alfred was lying to us about that?"

"He seemed pretty sure of that, but one of them has to be. It's all a matter of figuring out which one."

_Well, first the gun went off. That's when Larry started calling the cops._

"HOLD IT! When you say 'the gun went off,' you mean the shot that killed the victim?"

"Yeah, what other shot would I be talking about? You really should pay closer attention to my awesome testimony, since I'm going out of my way to give it to you."

"Just the one shot?"

"Yes! How many times do I have to say that?" CHIRP!

"Mr. Wright, is what he just said important?"

"Yes," POINT! "I want it added to the testimony."

"You don't have to point like that you know. We all get the idea."

"J-just amend your testimony, please."

" _Alfred fired only one shot, the one that killed the dead guy."_

"OBJECTION!" SLAM! "Mr. Wiellschmidt, you say the gun only went off once?"

"How many times are you going to make me repeat it? I know my voice is awesome, but seriously."

"Did you know that Mr. Jones's gun was actually fired twice that night?"

"Eh?" CHIRP!

"Yes," POINT! "There were actually two shots fired in the alley! Tell me, how could you miss both if you were just on the roof?"

"I, uh…"

"OBJECTION! There's no proof the gun was fired twice in the alley. It's possible it had been fired earlier that day."

"OBJECTION! Sorry to disappoint you Franziska, but we've found another bullet in the alley, and the ballistics match the murder weapon."

"Grr…"

"Hey! Lawyer guy! Why don't you try listening for once? Especially since I'm the one doing the talking! I said Alfred only fired one shot, not that there wasn't a second."

"Wha…WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

Mumble mumble mumble.

BANG!

"Witness, why didn't you mention the other shot before?"

"It wasn't that interesting. I'm only bringing it up now because Herr I-Think-I'm-Better-Than-Everyone-Lawyer-Guy over there is insisting it is."

(I think I'm better than everyone? Have you listened to yourself talk ever?)

"Would you please tell the court about the second shot anyway?"

"Sure Pops."

WHIP! CATCH!

 _WITNESS TESTIMONY  
_ \-- That Not So Awesome Shot --

" _The dead guy fell on Alfred when he died right?_  
_Well, he was kinda big, so Alfred had to struggle to get him off._  
_While he was doing that, the gun was still in his hand, so it accidentally went off again._  
_It didn't hit anyone, so I didn't bother mentioning it."_

"Are you happy now Phoenix Wright? That was all there was to the second shot you keep clinging to like a fool."

"Exactly. Can I go now? I'm starting to get bored." CHIRP!

"HOLD IT! I still need to do the cross-examination. You're not going anywhere yet."

"Whatever. Make it quick though."

 _CROSS-EXAMINATION  
_ \-- That No So Awesome Shot --

_It didn't hit anyone, so I didn't bother mentioning it._

"OBJECTION! The bullet didn't hit anyone you say?"

"Yes! I'm getting tired of repeating myself to you! If you can't listen to my awesome testimony the first time around-"

"Sorry Mr. Wiellschmidt, but I have evidence that the bullet actually did hit someone."

"What?" CHIRP CHIRP! "You're bluffing. What kind of evidence?"

"The decisive kind. The second bullet has blood on it, meaning that it must have hit someone."

"Eh? Did I say it didn't hit anyone? I meant that it hit the dead guy. Grazed his shoulder a little. He was dead, so it didn't matter…" CHIRP!

"OBJECTION! That's not going to work Mr. Wiellschmidt. I've already had the blood tested, and it's not the victim's."

"Did I say dead guy? I meant-"

"It's not Mr. Jones's either."

"OBJECTION! If it's not the victim's or the defendant's than to whom do you propose the blood belongs to?"

"The real killer!"

"There was no one else in that alley besides Alfred and the dead guy! What exactly are you saying?" CHIRP!

"Just because you didn't see them doesn't mean they weren't there, and this blood proves it!"

"Che…" CHIRP!

"Well Mr. Wright, since you seem so sure of yourself, who do you think the blood belongs too?"

(Finally, a chance to tie him into this.) "The defense proposes that the blood belongs to Lo-"

" _OBJECTION!_ "

"Who…who shouted that?!"

"I did Your Honor."

"M-Mr. Jones?! What do you have to object to?"

(Don't tell me he's actually going to…)

"I'm tired of this charade. Whoever my lawyer was about to accuse is completely innocent. The real killer was…it was…"

"OBJECTION! The defense requests that the defendant's words be struck from the record."

"OBJECTION! The prosecution finds no reason to acquiesce to the defense's request and insists on letting the defendant continue."

"Agreed. Mr. Jones you may continue. Who's the real killer?"

"Nick! He's going to confess! Do something!"

(I was so close…it's not fair…Alfred why?)

"The real killer was…me."

Mumble mumble mumble.

BANG BANG!

"In light of this new confession, I have no choice but to declare the defendant-"

" _OBJECTION!_ "

"Who was that now?!"

"That was me, Your Honor."

"Arthur?! What are you doing?"

"Your Honor, the defendant doesn't know what he's talking about. He's just trying to do what he thinks is best by protecting me, but I can't let him do that anymore." Sip.

(Protecting…you? What's going on here?)

"The real killer is actually me."

"Arthur, what the hell are you doing?!"

"Quiet Alfred, it's time this came to an end."

"Well, if that's the case than-"

" _OBJECTION!"_

"Who was that now?"

"That would be _moi_."

"And you are?"

"Francis Bonnefoy. These two are idiots. I'm actually the real killer."

"Francis what the-"

" _¡PROTESTO!"_

"Now what?"

"My name is Antonio Fernendez Carriedo Your Honor! It was actually me! I killed him!"

"Antonio, you weren't even in the country on the day of the murder!"

" _Si_ , but I am still the killer! Lock me up and throw away the key!"

" _OBIEZIONE!_ "

"Who…?"

"Ve, I'm Feliciano Vargas. A-and…I'm actually the real killer!"

"Mr. Vargas I don't think-"

" _EINSPRUCH!_ "

"And you are…?"

"Ludwig Wiellschmidt. I'm the real killer."

"Wiellschmidt?"

"Yes Your Honor, the witness is my brother. He's been covering for me, since I'm the one who did it."

" _IGIARI!_ "

"Nick, do you know what's going on?"

"Not a clue Maya, but I think this situation is out of our hands now."

"Yes?"

"I'm Honda Kiku. Sorry for the inconvenience, but I'm actually the real killer in this case."

"Well-"

" _PROTESTUYU!_ My name is Ivan Braginski, and I'm the real killer."

" _YÍ YÍ!_ I'm Wang Yao, and I'm the one who did it, aru."

" _EEAEEESUM_! Im Yong Soo, and I actually did it!"

" _ELLENZÉS_ _!_ Elizaveta Hedevry, and I'm the one who did it!"

" _EINSPRUCH!_ Roderich Edelstein and it was actually me!"

" _OBJECTION!_ M-Matthew Williams and I-"

" _OBJECTION!_ I'm Peter Kirkland, and I really did it!"

" _INVÄNDNING!_ Was actually me."

" _VASTAVÄITE!_ No it was me!"

" _OPPONERE!_ Me! It was me!"

" _INNVENDING!_ Yeah, it was him."

" _OBJECTION!_ It was me, mate!"

" _ENSTASI!_ It was…really me all along."

" _ITIRAZ!_ Don't listen to him! It was me!"

" _ZARZUT!_ It was like, totally me!"

" _PRIEŠTARA!_ No, it was me!"

" _CUR AN AGHAIDH!_ It was me!"

" _AGÓID!_ Lies, I did it!"

" _OBJECTION!_ I did it!"

"Maya! What are you saying!?"

"Sorry Nick, I just got caught up in all the excitement and couldn't help myself…"

" _OBJECTION!_ It was me!"

" _OBJECTION!_ I'm the killer!"

" _OBJECTION!"_

" _OBJECTION!"_

" _OBJECTION!"_

" _OBJECTION!_ I was the real killer all along!"

"Y-Your Honor?!"

"Sorry, I seem to have been caught up in the moment. Bailiff, take everyone who just confessed in for questioning so we can get to the bottom of this."

"That would include you too, Your Honor…"

"You're right! We will have to postpone this trial until tomorrow. The defense and prosecution may continue their investigations until then. Court is dismissed."

BANG!

_To be continued_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you're probably thinking "Hey that ending is really similar to that thing that happened in the third case of Dual Destinies! You are a fraud and a sham! Sham I say!" Well jokes on you, because I originally write this in 2010 and DD came out in 2013, so Capcom clearly stole the idea from me! Oh how the turns have tabled!
> 
> Speaking of the Objection Conga Line, In order, the people who confessed are: America, England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Japan, Russia, China, Korea, Hungary, Austria, Canada, Sealand, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Australia, Greece, Turkey, Poland, Lithuania, Scotland, Ireland, Maya, Random people, the Judge. The English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Korean objections came from the games, someone translated the Russian, Irish, and Scottish for me, and I just typed OBJECTION! into Google translate for the others, so their accuracy is most likely off.


	16. Day 3: Investigation Part 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix gets some advice and heads back to the crime scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on a bit of an Ace Attorney kick after finishing Spirit of Justice, so I might be updating this a lot within the next few weeks. No promises, because I'll probably break them, but anticipate this being Completely Finished by the end of the year with a special Epilogue that never got posted on lj.

**March 18, 1:27 PM. Detention Center.**

"So," I asked Detective Gumshoe, "How much longer will they be?"

"It's hard to say, pal, a lot of people confessed to the murder today. Maya should be let out soon considering you both were on the other side of the country at the time, and that's a usually solid alibi."

(Usually? Why does it sound like he doubts her innocence?)

"They do still need to question everyone. I'd say it'll be about another 10 minutes or so."

"In the meantime," I pulled out the second bullet, "do you think you can run some tests to find out whose blood this is?"

"Sure, but whose do you want tested?"

"Let's start with Lovino Vargas."

"I doubt you'll be able to, Wright. He's pretty protected, you know."

We looked over to see that sometime during our conversation, Edgeworth had entered the room.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, "We can run tests for everyone who's involved in this case, including Mr. Vargas."

"Lovino Vargas isn't involved," he smirked, "At least, you haven't proven that yet."

"He confessed though, Mr. Edgeworth," Gumshoe added, "That makes him involved."

"Except he didn't," Edgeworth sighed, "He was one of the very few who didn't. I can only assume because he's not an idiot."

"Ah, well," Gumshoe nervously scratched the back of his head, "I guess that means we can't run the tests."

(We can't…So many people confessed I didn't notice that he didn't even object during the trial. Is it possible that Lovino is some sort of evil genius?)

"What are we going to do now, pal?"

"If I may offer a suggestion," (You're going to whether I want you to or not…not that I'm complaining at this point) "test his brother."

"Eh?"

"You're not thinking outside of the box, Wright," he shrugged, "How unusual of you."

"What are you talking about?"

"If you can't test one Mr. Vargas, then why not try the other. It's a simple solution."

"But Mr. Edgeworth, they're two different people," Gumshoe pointed out, "Two different people have two different sets of DNA."

"How exactly did you become a detective?" Edgeworth asked.

"They're related, so they share the same genes," I explained, "If it actually is Lovino Vargas's blood, then if we test it against Feliciano's…"

"It should come out as a partial match, giving you enough of a reason to test it against any of his family members to find a complete one, including Lovino."

"Of course! Mr. Edgeworth, you're a genius!"

"Some people can tell if others are lying, some people are hypersensitive to their nervous habits, others have super sensitive hearing, I, however, have basic logic skills."

(Why do I get the feeling he just insulted me?)

"Detective Gumshoe, since Feliciano Vargas confessed-"

"Yeah, I'll go run the test for you pal."

_Handed Second Bullet to Gumshoe._

He ran off to run the tests as Edgeworth took a seat next to me in the waiting room.

"What are you doing here anyway, Edgeworth?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"I'm waiting for Maya. Who are you waiting for?"

"Don't," he crossed his arms and looked in the opposite direction, "Don't just assume I'm waiting _for_ someone. _Because_ of someone would be more accurate…"

(If he's waiting for his new friend, he could just say so.)

Suddenly there was a click from a nearby camera. Both of us turned to see Elizaveta and Roderich exiting the detention area, Elizaveta stashing her camera in her pocket as they approached.

"Liz, we've talked about this…" Roderich muttered as they passed.

"What? It was just a picture. It's not my fault they look absolutely adorable together!"

I noticed Edgeworth raise an eyebrow after them as they left, then shrug and turn his attention elsewhere.

I shifted in my seat. (That was…awkward…)

"Do you really think he did it?" Edgeworth asked suddenly.

"Who, Alfred? Of course not."

"No, we've already established the fact that he's innocent," he turned back to face me, "I mean Lovino."

"Well, he, Alfred, and the victim were the only ones in the alley at the time. Alfred didn't do it, and the victim didn't kill himself, so that only leaves Lovino."

"Yes, logically that is the only conclusion, assuming your assumptions are correct."

(My job would be so much easier if you just said what you meant.) "What are you talking about?"

"Who fired the gun?"

(Is that a trick question?) "The killer did."

"So, in your scenario, that would be Lovino Vargas, yes?"

"…Yeah, it would."

"So how did he get hurt?"

"Huh?"

"Honestly, Wright," he sighed, "According to your theory, Lovino fired the gun that both killed the victim and injured himself. You don't find anything wrong with that logic?"

"Uh, well, it would be difficult and pointless for him to shoot himself…"

"So I ask again: Who fired the gun?"

"…Uh…"

"If you were in court right now Franziska would be tearing you apart," he noted, amused.

"I'm thinking! The victim, obviously, since Alfred didn't show up until later."

"In order for the victim so have gotten a shot off, he would have had to shoot first, correct? So your theory is that the victim shot the gun and injured Lovino, who took the gun from him and proceeded to kill him?"

"Yeah, something like that." (Why do I get the feeling I'm missing something…?)

"Is that really what the evidence points to, I wonder?"

(If you already know the answer, wouldn't it be easier to just tell me rather than doing the whole beating around the bush thing?)

Before we could discuss it further, we were interrupted by a shout of "Edgey!" as Yong Soo and another, shorter man exited the questioning room.

"You again, aru."

"It's a pleasure to see you again too, Yao," Edgeworth said as he gave him his iciest stare.

 _Wang Yao_  
Gender: Male?  
Age: 4000  
Personification of the People's Republic of China. Has a pretty straightforward personality, but a weakness for cute things.

"And you," Yao turned his attention towards me, "are Alfred's lawyer correct?"

"Y-Yes sir." (Sir? For someone shorter than me he sure gives off quite an intimidating aura. Then again, I really shouldn't judge people by their size. I mean, look at Franziska.)

Yao sized me up some more before his face broke out in a smile, "You're doing a good job so far, aru. Maybe with a little luck you'll be able to win."

"Thanks…" (I think.)

"Let's go Yong Soo," he said as he turned to leave, "Your lawyer friend can come to, if he really wants to."

"Yeah, c'mon Edgey, it'll be fun!" Yong Soo grabbed Edgeworth's wrist and dragged him out the door, "See you later, Mr. Wright!" he called back over his shoulder.

"I suggest you take another look at the court record, Wright!" Edgeworth shouted as a parting.

I decided to do as his suggested as I waited for Maya. It wasn't like I had any better leads at this point.

Just as I was starting to figure out what he had been implying, Maya emerged from the questioning room.

"Hey Nick! What are you looking at?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, there you are. How did it go?"

"They let me go. I was on the other side of the country when the murder happened after all. What did you expect to happen?"

(You to do something suspicious and get held up or accused or in some other kind of trouble. You know, the usual.)

"So where to now Nick?"

"I think we need to pay the crime scene another visit."

* * *

**March 18, 2:00 PM. Alleyway.**

"You want me to what?" Maya asked.

"Just stand there and pretend to be Lovino for a bit," I answered as I looked at the alley diagram again, "We don't really need a body since the chalk outline is still there."

"But how am I supposed to play Lovino?" she wonder, "Other than a cute Italian who's being hounded by you as a murder suspected, what am I doing here? What's my motivation? You can't put this kind of pressure on me so suddenly, Nick!"

(I didn't know Maya could be such a diva.) "Your motivation is to stand there so I can see where this doesn't add up."

"Where what doesn't add up?"

"Two shots were fired in the alley on the night of the murder," I explained, "One hit the victim and killed him, but before that another grazed Lovino and hit that wall."

"So the victim shot Lovino?" (She picked that up faster than I did!)

"It looks that way, but-"

"How could he," Maya said as she stood in the shooter's position, facing the victim's chalk outline next to the wall where the second bullet was found, "if Lovino was facing this way?"

"Yeah, if Lovino took the gun from him and shot him right after he was shot, then either the victim should have died on the other side of the alley or the bullet should be there."

"It's a contradiction!" Maya said, "C'mon Nick, we can solve this!" She turned around so her back was to the chalk outline and the bullet-laden wall, "Lovino was facing this way, right?"

"He had to be, that's what the evidence says. So the victim moved after he shot at Lovino?"

"Oh! I know!" she clapped her hands together, "The Congressman shot Lovino, who stole the gun, so the Congressman dodged and Lovino turned," she pivoted and formed her hands into a gun shape, "and shot him dead. Bang!"

(That could work I guess…but wait-) "If the victim was dodging, wouldn't he have been shot in the back instead?"

"Way to spoil my perfectly good theory, Nick," she pouted in disappointment.

"We need a theory that Franziska won't whip us over. Think of a better one."

"Hm," she crossed her arms and stared at the wall, "well, what if there was someone else who shot the gun?"

"Someone else?"

"Yeah, the classic third shooter scenario. Someone else shot Lovino from behind then Lovino shot the Congressman."

"But if Lovino had his back turned his other arm would have been hit, not the one he got injured. Also, how could he get the gun?" (If there was a third shooter, would Lovino even be the killer?)

"…You're really cramping my style Nick."

(It's not adding up. It's impossible for Lovino to have been injured by the first shot and then go on to kill the Congressman with the second. The only possibility is a third shooter, one Gilbert and Alfred didn't see…)

"If Lovino didn't shoot him, who did?"

"That's what we're here to figure out, isn't it? So hop to it, Nick! Put those contradiction finding lawyer skills to the test and find the truth!"

(Fine, but you help too!)

We poked around the alley some more, but just like the previous days, there wasn't anything new to be found.

"The police have already carted off any real decisive evidence," I sighed, "not to mention everything that got washed away by the rain during the night of the murder."

"We can't give up yet," Maya said as she pointed at one of the crates in the alley, "Today during the trial, Alfred said that this box was moved. Clearly it's blocking some super important evidence!

(That's right; that did come up. I should make a note.)

_Crate  
Crate that was moved to block the side alley on the night of the murder. Is really heavy._

(It would have been super embarrassing if I forgot to add evidence and had to come all the way back here. I mean, who does something like that?)

"Come help me move it, Nick."

(I guess we should, it's not like I have any better leads at the moment anyway.)

It took a surprising amount of strength, mostly from me, but we were able to move the crate to its original position during the murder.

"That was so heavy! What's in there? Oh, maybe it's a metric ton of burgers!" she eagerly tried to open the box.

"I doubt its food, and aren't we supposed to be investigating?"

"Such a spoil sport," she pouted.

"But you're right, that was heavy. How was it moved the night of the murder?"

Maya shrugged and turned her attention to the side alley. "Now that that's out of the way, we can investigate here."

"Alfred says he saw someone sneak out this way. Since the police weren't able to get at it, maybe there's still something here."

"We're not going to find it by standing around. Get to work, Nick!"

(You can help too…)

The side alley was a tight squeeze, but the two of us were able to fit in it. There was more dirt and dust than in the main alley, but less debris and sunlight.

"It leads out to the next street," Maya shouted back to me, "Since he wasn't there when the police showed up, do you think Lovino escaped this way and moved the box to block it?"

"You felt how heavy that thing was. Do you think Lovino could have moved it by himself?"

"Yeah, he doesn't seem the type for physical labor."

(He barely seems the type for labor in general.)

As Maya made her way back to where I was standing, something on the ground glittered and caught my eye. I picked it up and brushed off some of the dirt.

"What'd you find?" Maya asked.

"Looks like… a light bulb?"

_Small Light Bulb  
Found in the side alley. Too small for normal lighting. In perfect condition._

"It looks kinda old. Oh, do you the real killer drop it?"

"Maybe. It's not as dirty as the rest of the alley, so it probably wasn't here for long."

"So," she was getting excited, "if we find the owner of the light bulb-"

"We might find our real killer."

_To be continued._


	17. Day 3: Investigation Part 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "L-Lovino? You think I lied to protect Lovino?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a pretty short chapter, but there's only one more investigation chapter after this, then the last day of the trial, and then we are done we did it kids we climbed the mountain! \o/

**March 18, 2:00 PM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Lobby.**

Maya and I went back to the hotel to see if Lovino, Gilbert, or someone else was around to give some more insight on just what went down in the alley that night. The lobby was completely empty, save for the concierge at the front desk and a person lying on the couch and being very quiet.

On closer examination, this person turned out to be Gilbert.

"Is everything okay, Gilbert?" Maya asked, "You look a bit down."

"Huh?" he looked over at us, "Oh, it's you two. No, I'm good. Awesome in fact."

"That's good to hear-"

"I mean, sure, they haven't released West yet," Gilbert went on, "but it's not like he did anything wrong. Feli said he was a little drunk that night, but I know him and he wouldn't do something like this. Yeah, that's right. Francis and the others aren't back yet either so they probably just haven't gotten to him yet. Sure Liz and Specs are back, but that doesn't really mean anything, right?"

"Uh…what?"

"Yeah, that's right," he chuckled nervously, "he'll be fine. Is there something you guys need?"

"I don't mean to be rude, but what exactly what you going on about before?"

"Heh, no worries. I'm just so awesome you can't help but want to know everything about me, right?"

(No, not at all.)

"It's just," his smile faded as he nervously glanced at the carpet, "they still haven't released Ludwig from his questioning after that Objection storm yet. Feliciano, Francis, and Arthur are still there too, so it's not like they think he's the prime suspect, right?"

"I guess-"

"But," Gilbert interrupted, "Specs and Liz and a lot of the other people who they took in for questioning after the trial are already back, and he doesn't really remember what he did that night!"

"I think that-"

"But West wouldn't have killed that guy! Even if he was intoxicated, he probably would have considered it out of order or something like that. I _know_ he didn't kill him, but if he's taking a fall for Alfred as some political martyr or some shit like that, superpower or not I will-"

"You know," Maya interrupted, "they let me out pretty quickly too, because I was on the other side of the country on the day of the murder."

"A lot of people at the trial who confessed weren't even in the country at the time," I continued, "Most likely they're still holding on to your brother and the others because he was actually here that night and can actually answer their questions."

"That, actually makes sense," Gilbert started softly chuckling until it eventually grew louder and louder into his more natural booming laugh, "Yeah, West'll be fine. Thanks, Herr Lawyer and his hot assistant. That's a load off my mind. As a show of my awesome appreciation, I'll answer any question you through at me."

"About what you said in court today, you didn't actually see Alfred kill the Congressman did you?"

"No, that was a complete fabrication."

(…What? She seemed upset about it yesterday, but…I thought…)

"Did, did Franziska put you up to that?"

"Nope. Probably would have whipped me so hard my hand would've fallen off if she found out."

(That's good, but if that's the case) "Then why did you lie?"

Chains sprung around Gilbert, accompanied by four psyche locks.

"Awesome never needs a reason. Kesesese!"

(If you're going to be that way…) "TAKE THAT!" I presented the magatama.

"What's this, some kind of super-secret mystic lawyer intimidation trick?"

"Mr. Wiellschmidt, why did you lie in court today?"

"I don't have to give a reason. People lie in court all the time."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, Arthur did it just the other day. I don't see you hounding him about it."

"I already hounded Arthur about it, and he did give me a reason… TAKE THAT!"

"Alfred?"

"Yes, he lied to protect Alfred, and I think you lied for a similar reason."

"Alfred's all grown up now, sorta. Despite what Arthur may think, he can take care of himself. Why should I try and protect him?"

"Actually, I don't think it was Alfred you were trying to protect. I think it was someone else. TAKE THAT!"

"L-Lovino? You think I lied to protect Lovino?"

"Yes, I do."

The first psyche lock breaking was all the conformation I needed.

"W-why would I need to protect Lovino? He wasn't anywhere near the alley."

"That's another lie."

"Is it?" he smirked, "Can you prove it's a lie?"

"Of course I can, TAKE THAT!"

"The second bullet? What does that prove?"

"Lovino got shot that night. You saw it, and this is his blood on the bullet, isn't it?"

"So you ran your tests? You have proof that's actually Lovino's blood?"

"N-not quite…but he's still only person related to this case with a wound that adds up to the evidence."

"The dead guy had a bullet wound too if I'm not mistaken."

"Except we already know it's not his."

The second psyche lock broke.

"So what if Lovino did need protection? You've met him; he doesn't have a very likeable personality. And truth be told, he hates my guts."

(With such a wonderful personality as yours? I couldn't even begin to imagine why.) "Even if he does hate you, I'm sure you would still have gone out of your way to protect him."

"Really? What makes you say that, Herr Lawyer?"

"TAKE THAT! Lovino, he's friends with Antonio isn't he? They seem pretty close."

"So? What does that have to do with me?"

"You and Antonio are friends too, aren't you? The two of you and Francis seem to have a habit of causing trouble, if what everyone has said means anything."

"What's your point?"

"If something happened to Lovino, Antonio would be upset. Depressing friends are no fun to be around, at least that's the reason you gave for not wanting to go drinking with Arthur, and there won't always be a Larry Butz in town to replace him."

"You're saying that I'd go out of my way to protect Lovino to keep Antonio happy so I'd have someone to hang out with? Kesese, that's a good one Herr Wright. We're called the Bad Friends for a reason, you know."

"If not Antonio, then Feliciano and your brother. I can imagine Feliciano being quite upset over something happening to his brother, and even if you and Antonio aren't as close as you're claiming, which I'm pretty sure is a lie right there, you can't deny how close Ludwig and Feliciano are. If something were to upset Feliciano, it would in turn upset Ludwig, and you're not the kind of person to inadvertently make your brother upset."

The third psyche lock broke.

"Y-you don't know that would happen."

"But you always plan ahead anyway don't you? At least that's what Edgeworth said."

"Kesesese, he would know, but you're still reaching pretty far there."

"There's another reason you'd defend Lovino."

"Oh, is there? Some more complicated relationship trees, perhaps?"

"No, you actually told me so yourself. TAKE THAT!"

"Those are…the rules Antonio, Francis, and I use."

"Exactly. I assume you know Rule 4, about not leaving a bro behind in a fight?"

"Yeah…"

"And Lovino did go out with you that night. He was in the alley that night, he did get into a fight, but you couldn't back him up there and then, could you? Because Alfred showed up and Rule 5 took effect. Since you couldn't have his back then, you decided to lie in court to cover for him."

"Che…" the final psyche lock broke.

(Now that that's over with, maybe we can get to the bottom of just what went on in that alley.) "So if you lied to protect Lovino, just what did you see?"

Gilbert sighed and sat down on the nearby couch, "None of us really thought all that much about the first gunshot; it just didn't register. I guess that's why we forgot about it. We didn't look over the edge until the second one and by then-"

"By then, what?"

"The guy was asleep – probably dead, now that I think about it – and Lovino was standing over him, clutching his arm, looking pretty guilty with the gun at his feet," he leaned back into the couch and rested his feet on the table in front of him, "Alfred showed up about a minute later, and I noticed Lovino escape up the fire escape while Francis, not-Antonio, and I made a run for it."

"Did you see anyone else in that alley besides Alfred, Lovino, and the victim?"

Gilbert scrunched his face as he thought about it, "No."

"Are you sure?"

"I already told you I didn't!" Gilbert snapped, "It's bad enough I'm turning him in, how many times are you going to make me repeat it?"

(He comes off callous, but Gilbert cares a lot more than he lets on.) "Sorry, I just wanted to make sure."

"Did you see anything else that night?" Maya asked, "Even if it was just a little off, it could help figure out what happened."

Gilbert closed his eyes and appeared to have fallen asleep. Just was going to wake him up, his eyes snapped open and he turned to look at Maya.

"A flash. I remember a flash shortly after the second gunshot."

"What kind of flash?"

"You know," he waved his hand in a vague gesture, "the flashy kind. Like a burst of light, you know?"

(That's not helping!) "Do you have any idea where it came from?"

"None whatsoever. I barley even remember the flash."

"Gilbert," I pulled out the small light bulb Maya and I found earlier, "do you think the flash you saw could have had something to do with this?"

He took the light bulb from me and studied it carefully. "You find this in the alley?"

"Yeah, do you recognize it?"

"Nope," he handed it back, "It looks like a flash bulb, like for a camera or something. Haven't seen one in that kind of condition in ages. Liz knows more about these kinds of things, so try asking her if you see her around."

_Das alles ist Deustchland. Das alles sind wir._

"Hallo?" Gilbert quickly answered his phone. "Oh, you're done? Awesome, I'll be right over…N-no! I wasn't worried, haha, don't be silly…Roderich probably couldn't even find the place, so I'll just come get you and Feli…Relax, it'll be fine…Because I said so," and hung up just as quickly.

"That was West, so I'll be heading out to pick him up," he said as he stood and went towards the exit, "Liz is probably wandering around upstairs if you want to talk to her."

"He left in a hurry," Maya observed, "I guess he's really worried about his brother."

"Yeah, at least we got everything we needed out of him." (At least I hope so.)

"He gave us a lead on the light bulb at least."

"Not really a lead, but I guess it's a place to start."

* * *

**March 18, 2:20 PM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Second Floor.**

"So where's Elizaveta," Maya whined, "We've been looking for her for hours…"

"It's only been a few minutes, and we only searched one floor. This place is pretty big, so it's not like we're just going to run into her right away."

"Mr. Wright?" Elizaveta called out as she left her room, "You're back already? I thought you would be out with Mr. Edgeworth."

"Uh, he's off doing something else. Maya and I were just investigating some more before the trial tomorrow. Actually, we were looking for you."

"Really? I don't know any more than you do about the case, but I'll still answer whatever questions you have."

"We found this near the crime scene," I showed her the light bulb, "Gilbert said you might know more about it?"

"He said what?" Her eyebrow start twitching as her hand unconsciously grasped for something, "Mr. Wright, you should know that Gilbert is quite the liar and he's been playing jokes like this just to get a rise out of me for years. Need I remind you that I was in _Hungary_ during the crime? _Gilbert_ , on the other hand, was _here_."

(Why is everyone's first assumption that I'm accusing them, and why do I suddenly fear for Gilbert's life?) "N-no, not like that! I know you didn't do it! He mentioned that it might be from a camera and that photography was a hobby of yours."

"Oh, well, he's right, for once, it is. Can I see that?" She took the light bulb from my hand and examined it closely.

"What do you think?" Maya asked after awhile, "Can you help us out?"

"It's a flashbulb alright," Elizaveta answered, holding it up for us to see, "It's a one-use disposable one, I'd say from the 40s or 50s, but hasn't been used yet," she tapped lightly on the top, "It's smaller, meaning it was probably designed for newspaper photographers for quick shots. I haven't seen one in such good condition in a while."

_Flashbulb updated in Court Record._

(Newspapers…quick shots…I think I know whose bulb that is…)

"Nick," Maya said warily, "Are you thinking about who I'm thinking about?"

"I," Elizaveta hesitated before handing the bulb back to me, "I only know a few people who would keep something like that in perfect condition, and only one who's in the city right now."

"His name wouldn't happen to rhyme with 'Sister Use Taper' would it?"

She forced a smile while Maya groaned.

"Alfred's not going to be happy about this, is he?"

Elizaveta shook her head, "Not at all."

_To be continued._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Gilbert's ringtone is "Deutschland" by Die Prinzen. Translation: "All that is Germany. All that is us." Because I only know 2 songs in German, and I already used "99 Red Balloons." orz


	18. Day 3: Final Investigation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mia makes an appearance, and Phoenix confronts the real killer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I say this every year but this year is the year I'm finally going to finish this! I can feel it in my bones. 

**March 18, 2:35 PM. Detention Center, Visitor's Room.**

After realizing that there was more to the night of the murder then the evidence suggested, Maya and I decided to go back and visit Alfred again to try and get him to tell us what he really saw.

"We know he saw Lovino," Maya said, "he almost said as much this morning."

"Yeah, before Mr. Newspaper interrupted." (Mr. Newspaper…he was definitely in the ally that night. What was he doing there, and how is he involved in all of this? I've got a feeling he's played a much bigger part in all this than we realize.)

Alfred entered the room and took his seat. "Mr. Wright! Ms. Maya! How can I help you?"

"We've been continuing our investigation, and there are a few things we've found that we need your clarification on."

"Like what?"

"Today during the break in the trial, you were saying something about Lovino?"

Those all too familiar psyche locks sprung into place. "Haha, was I? I don't think I was. Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm positive you were saying that he had something to do with the murder."

"Really? Pinning something on someone completely innocent of any wrong doing? That doesn't sound like something I'd do."

"Well, we don't know if Lovino's completely-"

"It just doesn't sound like something I would do!" He banged his fist loudly on the counter, smile giving way to a scowl, "You must be mistaken!"

(What the…what's with that reaction?)

"Nick," Maya whispered, "I think Mr. Newspaper scared him into silence with his comment earlier."

"Comment?" (That's right…

" _Jones Passes Buck onto Innocent Bystander! What a scoop!"_

The media's been attacking him a lot throughout the trial. It looks like it's been affecting him worse than he's letting on.)

"We need to scare him even more than Mr. Newspaper! Quick Nick, put on your intimidating face!"

"I don't think scaring him is going to get us results."

"Well, asking him nicely isn't working. You got any better ideas?"

(I don't.) "Mr. Jones!" SLAM! POINT! "You're lying!"

"Is that so?" he smirked, "Can you prove it?"

"Huh?"

"Intimidating, Nick!"

"I mean, what?"

"Last I heard you still haven't linked Lovino to much of anything really. On what grounds can you say I'm lying?"

"I, uh…" (This isn't working. I should take glaring lessons from Edgeworth or something.)

"Need some help, Phoenix?" a voice that wasn't quite Maya's, but just as familiar asked.

I looked over to find that Maya was gone. In her place she had used her spirit powers to channel her older sister, Mia Fey, my deceased mentor and friend. I was used to her calling on Mia for help, but normally that was for legal help in court, not during client interviews out of it.

"Chief! What are you doing here?"

"Maya noticed that you couldn't intimidate a kitten and thought I could help."

(Maybe I could get a whip or something like Franziska, it seems to work for her…wait a second, Alfred's been unusually quiet since Mia showed up…)

Alfred had backed up as far as he could in his seat, eyes wide and face pale as he gaped at Mia.

"Y-you're not Miss Maya."

"No," Mia smiled, "I'm not."

Alfred gulped, "Wh-what happened to Maya?"

(Is he…scared of her?)

"I'm her sister, Mia," she said.

"B-but Mia Fey is…is…" he swallowed and whispered, "Not alive."

"True, but Maya's a spirit medium. She has the ability to summon me if she needs to."

"Like a…like a…g-ghost?"

(Is Alfred Jones, the United States of America, afraid of ghosts?)

"I suppose if you want to look at it that way, yes."

Alfred bit his lip and shivered. His eyes darted around the room before he came to a decision, "I, okay. I'll talk if you promise to let Maya go _without_ hurting her."

"It's not like Mia's an evil- OW!"

Mia elbowed me before smiling at him, "Alright, it's a deal."

"Okay."

The psyche locks broke and the chains disappeared.

"I, uh, well…" he looked pointedly at Mia.

"I'll just leave you boys alone then," she winked at me before standing up and leaving the visitor's room.

As soon as she shut the door, I turned back to Alfred, "So what did you really see?"

Alfred sighed and looked me right in the eye, "You're right. Lovino was there. But he didn't do anything! I swear! He was crouched over Congressman Smith, trying to help him…but he bolted when he saw me."

"Did you see where he went?"

"No," he shook his head, "There was a flash of light to my left and it distracted me for a bit. When I turned back to where Lovino was he was already gone."

(Gilbert said he saw him escape up the fire escape, and he also mentioned a flash of light too, didn't he? Things are finally starting to come together.)

"Alfred, does this look familiar to you?" I showed him the flashbulb.

"That's a flashbulb isn't it? Weird, you don't see many of those around much anymore. The only person I know who even bothers carrying them is Mr. Newspaper. Where'd you find it?"

"I found it in the alley after the trial today. It was in the side alley, so the police missed it."

"Oh," Alfred stared at it thoughtfully for a bit, "Oh, you don't think it's Mr. Newspaper's, do you?"

"I'm not sure if he's capable of something like this, but-"

"Oh, no, it's not that. He once started a war with Antonio because he was bored. I've no doubt that he's perfectly capable of something like this," Alfred looked away and scratched his cheek, "It's just, I'm not sure why he would want to put me in prison."

"I'm sure he'd rather have you in prison instead of himself."

"See that's the thing; he _would_ rather go to prison instead me."

"If that's true, then maybe you weren't the one who was supposed to get caught." (But even if that's true, why would Mr. Newspaper defame Alfred so much?)

"I guess," his eyes went wide with realization, "You don't think he was trying to frame Lovino, do you?"

"I'm not sure," (If it was Mr. Newspaper, then why would he want to frame Lovino? Why would he even want to kill a Congressman? I need answers, and there's only one person who can answer them.) "Do you know where I can find Mr. Newspaper?"

Alfred smiled, "He's where the action is."

(That's not helpful at all!)

After that I said my goodbyes and found Maya waiting patiently in the waiting room.

"I knew calling Sis was a good idea!" she beamed, and I had to admit it was a good plan, "What did he say?"

"He said Lovino didn't do it, but he confirmed Mr. Newspaper probably did, although he couldn't think of a motive."

"Then we need to hurry and ring a confession out of him!"

(My thoughts exactly.)

* * *

**March 18, 3:00 PM. Alleyway.**

"So this is where the action is?" Maya looked around as if she didn't trust my logic.

"It's where the action was-"

Maya frowned, "But Alfred said to go where the action _is_."

"And the action's wherever I'm at, Sweetcheeks," we turned around and were surprised by a suddenly flash and a shout of "Gotcha!"

"Mr. Newspaper, just the man I've wanted to see."

"Rule number one of journalism, Jack: it's the reporter that asks the questions, never the other way around, but what the hey," he shrugged and dropped his camera, letting it hang from his neck, "I can bend the rules for you, just this once. Let's see if you're the Real McCoy, Jack!"

"It's…ugh, never mind. Where were you on the night of the murder?"

"Where d'ya think I was Jack, putting on the Ritz? I'm where the action is, and the action was here, ain't it?"

"Wait, you admit to being here the night of the murder?"

"That's what I said, ain't it? I'm trying to level with ya here!"

(That was…easy.) "Okay, well, what were you doing here?"

"I was bumping off Mr. Smith."

"…What?" (That was too easy! He's up to something.)

"Ya wanna clean your ears out, Jack? I just said I killed the guy. What else would I be doing at the crime scene the night of the murder."

"But…why?"

"I woulda gotten a torpedo to take him for a ride, but that pill Vargas had to get involved, guess the mafia still has some loyalties to him, I don't know and I don't care. Point is I had to bump him off myself."

(Vargas…he must mean Lovino.) "I meant why did you want him dead in the first place?"

"Someone had to die, Jack. It'da been easier to pin Smith's death on Vargas 'cause of the mafia thing."

(Mafia thing?) "Why did someone have to die? What are you planning?"

"It's simple enough. Alfie-boy's been complaining about not gettin' enough love lately, so I decided to take matters into my own hands, so to speak."

"By putting him in jail?"

"Not quite, he did that on his own. I mean by comparison. If Vargas got arrested for killin' someone, 'specially if that someone is from someone else's government, that'll make him look bad, which would make Alfie-boy look good. Of course now that he's been arrested instead, the plan's changed a bit, so you've gotta play your role in this too, Jack."

"So, you've been making him look bad now so that when he's proven innocent he'll look good again?"

"Now you're on the trolley. When you get him a not guilty and Vargas gets a guilty, everyone'll feel bad for blamin' him and love him all the more."

"But…that's…"

"A pretty good plan am I right, Jack?" he winked, "'Specially when you consider Alfie-boy ruined the original one by playing the hero."

I shook my head, "That's not right."

"What's not right?"

"You can't blame Lovino for your crime!"

"I ain't gonna blame no one. You are."

"I'm not going to pin this murder on Lovino when Lovino's innocent!"

"Well who else are ya gonna blame Jack?" he picked up his camera and started playing with it, "Ya can't blame Alfie-boy, he's your client! And the evidence is startin' to point at Vargas, ain't it? Why not just follow the evidence?"

"I'll accuse you, since you're the one who killed him!"

Mr. Newspaper stopped fiddling with his camera and glared at me. "I musta misheard you, Jack. Sounded like ya were gonna actually pin this on me."

"Of course I am," I glared back, "You just told me you did it."

"Yeah, but it's not like ya can _prove_ it was me."

"You just said-"

"Words are words Jack," he started pacing around the alley, "Unless ya got some way to confirm what I just said, 'cause I sure as hell ain't sayin' it again, ya won't be able to prove nothing. On the other hand, ya _can_ prove it was Vargas."

"I can't even link Lovino to the crime!"

"That bullet ya found _does_ have Vargas's blood on it. That's the link. And ya seem like a decent enough lawyer to be able to do it from there."

"I'm not going to help you put an innocent man behind bars!"

"So you're one of _those_ lawyers huh? Lemme just say, ya ain't gonna be able to pin it on me, Jack. Someone else is gonna be the fall guy; it's up to ya if that's Alfie or Vargas. I personally hope its Vargas."

"I'll find a way," I clenched my fist, "I'll prove it was you."

"Oh really?" he stopped pacing and Maybe ya need a little incentive then…"

In the blink of an eye, he pulled a knife out of somewhere and grabbed Maya, holding her at knife point.

"Maya!"

"Nick!"

"I wouldn't talk very much if I were you, Sweetcheeks," he said to Maya before turning to me, "I hate to do this to ya Jack, but I really don't wanna go to jail, and I really _really_ don't want Alfie-boy to go to jail either. The deal is simple: you pin it all on Vargas and Sweetcheeks goes free."

"You…you can't do this!"

"Freedom of the press, Jack, it's in the first amendment. I'll see ya at the trial tomorrow!" Before I could stop him, he had taken Maya and vanished.

(Maya…damn it! What am I supposed to do now?)

* * *

**March 18, 3:25 PM. Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, Lobby.**

(I can't believe he just took Maya…I can't believe he _confessed to me_ and then _took Maya_ and I _still_ can't do anything to stop him…)

"Hey, pal!" I looked up to see Detective Gumshoe waving me over, "I got the results of the blood tests back!"

(Blood tests? Oh right, the bullet.)

"You and Mr. Edgeworth were right. It was Vargas's blood, and not just any Vargas's blood, Lovino Vargas's blood!" his grin started to fall when he saw my lack of response, "What's wrong, pal? Shouldn't you be more, I dunno, happy about this? It means your client didn't do it, right?" he looked around, as if just noticing, "Hey, where's Maya?"

"She's…it wasn't Lovino."

"What?"

"Lovino's innocent. Maya's been kidnapped by the real killer, and-"

"What?! Hold up a sec there. If Maya was kidnapped why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"She was just taken!"

"And you say he's the real killer? Who was it?"

"He…calls himself Mr. Newspaper."

"An obvious cover name if I'd ever heard one. Did you get a good look at the guy?"

"Not really…"

"Don't worry pal, I'll get a search team together. We'll find her in no time!" he rushed towards the door before I remembered.

"Wait! Gumshoe! I need to talk to Lovino!"

He stopped and sheepishly turned to face me, "Sorry, pal, but Ms. Von Karma kinda already saw the results of the tests. She had Lovino subpoenaed and is talking to him right now.

"So, that means…"

"You're not going to be able to get to him until the trial tomorrow."

I nodded in understanding. He gave me a look full of sympathy before he raced out the door.

(A subpoena…so they're making him testify whether he wants to or not. I don't know if that's good or bad for us, or if it even matters at this point.

Maya…she would want me to continue forward with the case and make sure the real culprit is brought to justice, so that's what I'm going to have to do, with or without her by my side.

It seems no matter what, Alfred's going to be a free man tomorrow. The question is whether it's the guilty party or an innocent man who goes to jail in his place.)

_To be continued._


	19. Day 4: Trial Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lovino Vargas takes the stand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It hasn't been that long guys, only like what? 6 months? ...Okay yeah, that's pretty long, but hey, look, it's the second to last chapter! \o/ We're almost done!

**March 19, 9:50 AM. District Court, Defendant’s Lobby No. 3**

I paced around the room as I waited for Alfred to show up.

(Mr. Newspaper has Maya. I _know_ he did it, I just can’t prove it. If I can’t do it today, then Alfred is declared guilty and Maya… that would be the worst possible outcome. I _might_ have enough evidence to convict Lovino, then Alfred and Maya would go free, but Lovino’s completely innocent… Mia, what do I do?)

“Hello, Mr. Wright!” I looked up to see Alfred standing there, “Where’s Miss Maya?”

“She’s… not coming today, Alfred.”

“Eh?” he blinked, “Why not?”

(Should I tell him? He has enough to worry about at this point.)

“Wright!” we both turned and saw Edgeworth storming over, “Why didn’t you tell me Maya was captured?”

“What?!” Alfred turned back to me and grabbed my shoulders, “Why didn’t you tell me Miss Maya was in trouble?”

“I, well, I, h-how did you know Edgeworth?”

“Detective Gumshoe told me,” he glared, “ _You_ should have told me!”

“You sound worried.”

“Of course I’m worried. I’m not some sort of heartless monster,” he grasped his arm and looked away, “You can at least pretend to have a sense of continuity.”

I winced, “Sorry, I know should have, but, well, I’ve been a bit-”

“I suppose I’ll just have to start looking for her now instead of last night.”

(That’s right; he has experience in this kind of situation. I can leave Maya to Edgeworth.)

“Awesome!” Yong Soo came up behind Edgeworth and slung an arm across his shoulder, “The IWIS is back in business!”

Edgeworth grimaced, “Stop using that name.”

“Wait,” Alfred said, “If you’re going to look for Miss Maya, I want to help too.”

“No,” he insisted, “You need to stay here for the trial.”

“But-”

“It’s cool, Al,” Yong Soo added, “Yao and I will be with him. And Detective Gumshoe already had a team on this. We’ll find her.”

“But,” he turned his head away, “It’s my fault she’s in trouble, isn’t it? I can’t just sit around and do nothing!”

“You can and you will,” Arthur said as he entered the room, “You need to stay for the trial. If you leave now you’ll just make everything worse.”

“But, Arthur-”

“Mr. Wright and Miss Fey have been putting all this effort towards defending you. Are you going to make all that effort completely useless by skipping your own trial?”

Alfred said nothing. Edgeworth and Yong Soo took that as their cue to leave.

“Good luck Wright,” Edgeworth said before he left, “We’ll call you as soon as we find her.

“Yeah, thanks. Really, Edgeworth, Yong Soo, thank you.”

As soon as they left, Alfred sat down on one of the benches in the lobby.

“It’s my fault. Some hero I turn out to be. I can’t even go find her.”

“Don’t be daft,” Arthur took the seat beside him, “Heroes go where they’re needed, and right now, you’re needed here. With Maya gone, Mr. Wright needs an assistant to help him in court, and no one knows more about the American Justice System then you.”

“I guess…”

“Mr. Wright,” I turned to find Ludwig and Feliciano approaching.

“Ludwig! Did you finish the handwriting analysis you were doing?”

“Yes and no,” he sighed, “Yes, I finished. I compared the letters to everyone involved in the case, but I didn’t find a match.”

“At all? But you said it looked familiar!”

“And I stand by that statement. I just can’t find the right handwriting.”

(Since Mr. Newspaper did it, he probably sent the letters too. I wonder if Ludwig checked him yet?) “Did you try matching it against Mr. Newspaper’s handwriting?”

“No,” he paused, “Is he involved?”

“Yeah, a bit.”

“I don’t have a sample of his writing, or else I would.”

(If Ludwig’s analysis does say Mr. Newspaper wrote the letters, that’s conclusive evidence that he’s guilty. At the very least it’ll be a start in a direction that doesn’t put an innocent man behind bars) “Is there any way you can get a sample?”

“I wish. He usually just tweets me now and days when he wants to say something.”

“He wrote me a note last week,” Alfred said, “Just a reminder about, something, I forget what, but it was handwritten.”

“That would do it. Where is it?”

“At my house. If you go there Tony should know where it is.”

“If your so-called ‘roommate’ doesn’t kill us first!”

“Oh, you’ll be fine. Mr. Wright, do you still have my key?”

“Oh, yeah.”

_Alfred’s Key given to Ludwig_

“How long will it take? I need all the evidence I can get.”

“The analysis itself won’t take very long. I just need to get the sample,” Ludwig said as he pocketed the key, “Maybe an hour tops. Try and stall as much as you can. That shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?”

(What’s that supposed to mean?)

“Ciao!” Feliciano waved as they left, “We’ll get your evidence for you as fast as we can, so make sure you keep going!”

“That’s not going to be enough, is it?” Arthur sighed as he stood up and faced me.

“What do you mean?”

“If you actually think it was Mr. Newspaper who did it, the fact that he wrote the letters isn’t going to be enough to bring him down. It’s a start, but you’ll need more decisive evidence than that to win the day.”

“Well, what do you suggest I do? It’s too late to go out and find some.”

“For you, yes, you need to be here. But I can go.”

“Go where?”

“Places you couldn’t, places you didn’t think to look,” he nodded, “I’m good with espionage. I’ll find you some evidence.”

“I’d prefer if it was, you know, real evidence.”

“Of course it will be. What kind of nation do you take me for, Mr. Wright?”

“Just checking.”

“Arthur,” Alfred said as he stood up too, “You don’t have to-”

“Yes I do. Don’t you get it? Mr. Newspaper doesn’t want you to take the heat for this. If he really did do it, he’d push the full blame to whoever he could, which would end up being Lovino since he’s testifying today.”

“But Arthur-”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve been dealing with Mr. Newspapers since before you were born. Francis, Ivan, and Kiku will come with me. We’ll call you when we find something.”

“Okay,” I nodded, “We’re counting on you.”

“We won’t let you down,” he turned to Alfred, “You need to help Mr. Wright. Lovino’s not going to talk and you know it, so you’ll have to stay here and try your best to get him to admit he saw Mr. Newspaper that night. Can you do that?”

“Psh, of course I can. Heroes always try their best.”

Arthur smiled just as we were called into the courtroom. He left with a quick wave as we went to face the end of the trial.

(We can do this. Our friends will take care of Maya and finding the evidence we need. Right now Alfred and I need to concentrate on getting Lovino to talk and Mr. Newspaper to confess.)

* * *

**March 19, 10:00 AM. District Court, Courtroom No. 3**

BANG! BANG!

“Court is now in session for the trial of Alfred F. Jones. We left off last time when, uh-”

“You foolishly confessed, Your Honor. Along with approximately 50 other fools in this courtroom.”

“Yes, thank you, Ms. Von Karma. The prosecution says it has found a new witness, so we’ll pick up there. Is the defense… ready?”

“The defense is ready, Your Honor.”

“Uh, Mr. Wright, you seem to have replaced your usually assistant with… your client?”

“Y-yes, there was an emergency.”

“It’s cool Your Honor. Heroes make awesome lawyers.”

“If you say so, Mr. Jones. Is the prosecution ready?”

“Ready and waiting Your Honor.”

“Then you may call your first witness, Ms. Von Karma.”

“The prosecution calls Mr. Lovino Vargas to the stand.”

“You’re not going start confessing again if I press him, are you?”

“No! I’m your assistant now. Besides, I trust you. You’ll do the right thing.”

“Witness, name and occupation please.”

“Lovino Vargas. I work for the Italian government, and I don’t know why I’m here, I know nothing.”

“I’ll be the judge of that, Mr. Vargas.”

“Or maybe I will, since I’m the judge.”

“Mr. Vargas, please give your testimony before anymore foolish puns are uttered.”

_WITNESS TESTIMONY  
_ \-- I Know Nothing--

“ _I have absolutely nothing to do with this case. I don’t know why I’ve been dragged here._  
If anything, you all are crazy, and should feel horrible for disrupting me like this.  
I’ve never seen Alfred Jones before this trial started.  
I wasn’t even here the day of the murder, I was in Italy.  
I know nothing. Can I go now?”

(It’s…so obvious that you’re lying it hurts. Who’s going to buy that?)

“Well if you really don’t know anything I don’t see why – OW!”

“He _clearly knows_ something, Your Honor.”

 “Alright, Ms. Von Karma, if you say so. Mr. Wright, please cross-examine the witness.”

“Y-yes Your Honor.”

_CROSS-EXAMINATION  
_ \-- I Know Nothing--

_I’ve never seen Alfred Jones before this trial started._

“HOLD IT! You’re telling me you’ve never seen my client before?”

“Nope.”

“Never? Not even once in passing?”

“No even, unless you can prove otherwise.”

“Even though you both work in the same government positon?”

“Alright bastard, do you know every lawyer on the planet? Just because we have the same job doesn’t mean we have to know each other!”

“Well, he’s friends with your brother, Feliciano, right? Couldn’t you know him through that?”

“Oh, so what, now it’s a crime to not know your brothers friends?”

“That’s not what I-“

“What’s your problem anyway? Why are you attacking me with all these questions?”

“It’s a cross-examination, I’m supposed to-”

“Stop attacking me with these questions! I came here to give you my testimony and this is how you treat me? Unbelievable.”

(Exactly what testimony have you given so far other than ‘I don’t know’?)

“Mr. Vargas, can you just explain to me how-”

“I said stop attacking me with questions!” SLAM! “If you want to accuse me of something, do it with evidence, otherwise get off my back!”

“Mr. Wright, please stop attacking the witness with questions.”

(I wish everyone would get off _my_ back…)

_I wasn’t even here the day of the murder, I was in Italy._

“OBJECTION! Mr. Vargas do you know what this is?”

“Yes, it’s Ludwig’s stupid list. You’ve shown it to me before.”

“So you know what this list says?”

“Yes, it shows everyone in our little group who was here on the day of the murder.”

“So you are aware that it says you arrived the very morning of the murder?”

“Yes, I know it says that.”

“So you do know that you were _not_ in Italy when the murder took place, and that the testimony you just gave was a lie?”

“Of course I know that bastard! I was… just testing you, to make sure _you_ were aware of that fact. OW!”

“Mr. Lovino Vargas, I know the defense is a fool, but please refrain from foolishly wasting the court’s time and give your proper testimony.”

“Fine, if you insist.”

_WITNESS TESTIMONY  
_ \--Seriously, I Know Nothing--

“ _So maybe I was here when the murder took place._  
 It doesn’t mean I know anything.  
I was jet-lagged. I spent the whole night sleeping.  
I didn’t even leave the hotel that night.  
I never took one step outside.  
As you can see, I don’t know anything, and you should let me go.”

“Ms. Von Karma, why did you bring in a witness that doesn’t know anything? OW!”

“Fool, he knows something! He’s just not talking, a very foolish action on his part.”

“If that’s so, then Mr. Wright…”

“I’m on it, Your Honor.”

_CROSS-EXAMINATION_  
\--Seriously, I Know Nothing--

_I didn’t even leave the hotel that night._

“HOLD IT! What about drinking with Gilbert and Francis?”

“What?”

“Several people told me that you went out drinking that night.”

“They were wrong. They probably saw my brother going with them and assumed it was me.”

“Even _you_ said you went out with them.”

“I was mistaken too! I, I had a nightmare about it. Yeah, that’s why I was confused. I had a nightmare about going out with them, so I was confused when you asked the first time.”

(The first time I asked you had the information Psyche Locked! You don’t Psyche Lock dreams!)

“I’d let it go, Mr. Wright. When Lovino starts denying something like that, you’re not going to get anything out of him by asking questions.”

(I suppose Alfred’s right.)

_I never took one step outside._

“OBJECTION! Mr. Vargas, if you’re going to continue lying, I suggest you put more effort into it.”

“What are you talking about, bastard?”

“This is a dry-cleaning receipt for some clothes you dropped off on March 11. How exactly did your clothes get so dirty that they needed to be dry-cleaned if you never even left the hotel the day before?”

“Chigi…”

“Witness! Did you or did you not leave the hotel on March 10?”

“Yes, I left the damn hotel! It was raining! My clothes got muddy! It’s not like I got blood on them or anything!”

“No one here mentioned blood, Mr. Vargas.”

“You were all thinking it!”

“Witness, I remind you that you are in a court of law. Please stop wasting the court’s time and tell us what you were up to!”

“You’re the ones who dragged me here. I should be the one complaining. OW!”

“Mr. Lovino Vargas! Tell us how you got your clothes dirty that night.”

“Y-yes Ms. Von Karma….”

“Ms. Von Karma! I believe it’s my job to ask testimony from the witnesses, and I don’t see how he got his clothes dirty has anything to do with the murder.”

“Forgive me, Your Honor, but as you have noticed, this foolish witness of ours is a tad difficult. His testimony is invaluable, however in order to get it, I’ve found baby steps and lashings are the best approach. I trust our foolish Mr. Wright can drag the real truth out of him this time?”

(Franziska is trusting me to get the truth out of him? That usually means the truth isn’t something I want to hear. But right now Lovino’s eyewitness account is the only thing that can connect Mr. Newspaper to the murder.)

“Worst possible scenario is that he lies and says he saw me shoot him. Even if that happens, you’ll just have to lawyerize the truth out of him right?”

“I don’t think lawyerize is a word, Alfred.”

 “All the same, we do need Lovino’s testimony, even if it is a lie, so there’s no reason not to follow along with Franziska’s plan for now, right?”

(Yes, that’s true.) “The defense agrees to hear Mr. Vargas’s testimony about his clothes.”

“Very well. Witness, if you please, with no lying this time?”

“Che.”

_WITNESS TESTIMONY_  
\--Why My Clothes Were Dirty--

“ _So I might have left the hotel that night.  
It still doesn’t mean I know anything about the murder.  
I went to go meet my brother _ after _it had started raining, which was after the murder._  
I didn’t even know there was a murder until Alfred was arrested the next day.  
The rain made my clothes muddy. They were nice clothes so I got them dry-cleaned.  
It doesn’t mean I was in the alley.”

“And you’re telling the truth this time?”

“Of course I’m telling the truth! I’ve been telling the truth this whole time!”

(No you haven’t! Every other word out of your mouth has been a lie!)

“Very well. Mr. Wright, begin your Cross-examination.”

_CROSS-EXAMINATION  
_ \--Why My Clothes Were Dirty--

_I went to go meet my brother_ after _it had started raining, which was after the murder._

“HOLD IT!” SLAM! “How would you know the murder took place before the rain if you weren’t there?”

“Same as you, bastard. I’ve been attending this stupid trial. I’ve been reading the news reports about it. It’s not rocket science, idiot.”

“OW! What was that for?”

“For being foolish.”

“Seriously, Mr. Wright.”

(I guess that one was a little obvious.)

_I didn’t even know there was a murder until Alfred was arrested the next day._

“HOLD IT! Mr. Vargas, were you aware that Mr. Jones was actually arrested the night of the murder?”

“What the, yes, I knew that, bastard.”

“It seems strange, then that you would say he was arrested the next day…unless you were there.”

“…How?”

“What?”

“If anything that would prove I have nothing to do with it, since I can’t even pinpoint when he was arrested.”

“Well, uh…”

“And even so, I only meant I didn’t find out about it the next day, not necessarily that he was arrested then, bastard.”

“Uh, well…”

“Mr. Wright, is now really the time to debate semantics?”

(I…suppose not.)

_It doesn’t mean I was in the alley._

“HOLD IT! If you weren’t in the alleyway, where were you?”

“I, well, I don’t know exactly. DC is a confusing city and I, you know, didn’t have to go that far from the hotel to find Feliciano.”

“How far from the hotel exactly?”

“I don’t know, bastard! More than one block, less than fifty.”

“That’s a little vague. Can you be more specific?”

 “You seem to have all the answers! Why don’t you tell me?”

“I’m not the one on trial here, Mr. Vargas.”

“Well neither am I!”

(That’s…yeah, valid point.)

“Pressing him isn’t going to work, Mr. Wright.”

“I realize that, but he’s not going to let go of any information without a fight.”

“Lovino’s really good at denying things. If you want to get something specific out of him, you either need to be a girl or have evidence.”

“Wh-what?”

“Since neither of us is a girl, I suggest you stick with evidence.”

(Of all the reasons to wish Maya was here… but Alfred’s right. Simply pressing him isn’t working. I need to keep piling on the evidence until Lovino has no choice but to tell the truth.)

_It doesn’t mean I was in the alleyway._

“OBJECTION! You’re right, Mr. Vargas.”

“I am? I mean, of course I am, bastard.”

“Just because your clothes were dirty doesn’t mean you were in the alleyway at the time of the murder, but I believe this does.”

“That’s…”

“The second bullet, isn’t it, Mr. Wright?”

“Yes it is.”

“Bastard, that doesn’t prove anything!”

“The bullet itself doesn’t, but what I’m talking about is the blood on the bullet. It’s yours, isn’t it, Mr. Vargas?”

“Wh-what?!”

 “Mr. Wright, what are you talking about?”

“We’ve run a blood test on the bullet, and the blood can belong to no one other than Lovino Vargas,” POINT!  “Proving without a doubt that _he was in the alley when the murder took place_.”

Murmur murmur murmur.

BANG!

“Mr. Vargas! If you were at the scene of the crime the whole time, why are you trying to deny it?”

“…”

“There’s no use lying anymore,” SLAM! “Tell us what you saw.”

“…”

“Mr. Lovino Vargas, it would be in your best interest to tell them what you told me yesterday.”

“I…I didn’t want to tell you the truth because…I don’t want Alfred to go to prison.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Mr. Vargas, are you telling the truth this time?”

“Yes, I saw Alfred in the alley that night. I’ve been lying to cover for him.”

(And we’re supposed to believe him now?)

“Well it’s good that you’ve finally told us the truth, young man.”

(Of course the judge on his side.)

“It’s another lie, but I don’t know what Mr. Newspaper’s done to make Lovino protect him over me.”

“I guess that’s another piece of information we need to drag out of him in his testimony.”

“Mr. Vargas, tell us exactly what you saw that night in the alley.”

“A-alright.”

_WITNESS TESTIMONY  
_ \--The Murder--

“ _Really I just sort of stumbled across the alley, and I had no idea what was going on.  
The Congressman had Alfred at gunpoint, pinned to the ground.  
I’m not sure what happened next_ , _but Alfred somehow got the gun back and just…_  
There was no way anyone else was in the alley, so I thought he was going to turn on me next.  
I got out of there as fast as I could.”

“And that’s what happened? Mr. Jones killed Congress Smith in self defense?”

“Y-yeah. That’s what happened. Bastard.”

(That can’t be what happened. Mr. Newspaper _was_ in that alley, I just need to get Lovino to admit it somehow.)

“Mr. Wright, you may cross-examine the witness.”

“Of course, Your Honor.”

_CROSS-EXAMINATION_  
\--The Murder--

_The Congressman had Alfred at gunpoint, pinned to the ground._

“HOLD IT! That sounds oddly like what Gilbert said happened yesterday…”

“Maybe because that’s how it went down, bastard?”

“Uh, well…not quite what I was, OW!”

“Fool.”

“Seriously.”

(Et tu, Alfred?)

_There was no one anyone else was in the alley, so I thought he was going to turn on me next._

“HOLD IT! What made you think Mr. Jones was going to go after you?”

“Well, there was no one else in the alley and I had just witnessed him kill a man. It’s what I would do…not that I’d ever consider killing a man. Ever. Bastard.”

“You claimed he killed out of self-defense. If that was the case, there’d be no reason to silence you.”

“I, well…chigi…”

“OBJECTION! Mr. Phoenix Wright, are you suggesting that perhaps your client _did not_ kill out of self defense?”

“OBJECTION! I’m suggesting that he didn’t kill anyone at all!”

“Well, it sounds to me like your claiming the former.”

“Yes, it looks that way to me too Mr. Wright.”

“Same here, and it’s making me a bit nervous…”

(Should I press this matter or let it drop? It doesn’t look like this line of questioning is getting me anywhere. I should try something else.)

“You said there was no one else in the alley, how did you know that?”

“Because no one else was there, stupid.”

“But how did you know for sure? It was dark and as you said, you just stumbled across the scene. Someone could have been hiding in the shadows.”

“OBJECTION! This question is foolishly irrelevant. It’s already been established by previous testimony that Mr. Jones was the only one in the alley.”

“OBJECTION! Until it came to light that there were three witnesses above the alley, and that Mr. Vargas here was also at the scene! I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of someone else so quickly!”

“A valid point. Answer the question, Mr. Vargas. How did you know no one else was in the alley?”

“Y-yeah, right…”

“ _I was already hiding in the side alley, so there was nowhere for anyone else to hide._ ”

“HOLD IT! What about behind the crates?”

“Alfred would have seen them if they were behind the crates, dumbass!”

“I, well, uh…”

“Fool.”

(He’s adamant on keeping Mr. Newspaper’s involvement a secret. The fact that his lies are lining up with Gilbert’s aren’t helping any.)

“You just need to keep pressuring him. Find his weak point and keep poking it ‘till he cracks.”

“You seem to know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course! It’s the strategy for any boss fight. Although I suppose Lovino would be the mini-boss to Mr. Newspaper’s final boss, but the same strategy still applies.”

(I wonder if I should tell him life’s not a video game. Even so, his point stands. I need to keep pressuring him.)

_I was already hiding in the side alley, so there was nowhere for anyone else to hide._

“OBJECTION! Mr. Vargas, do you know what this is?”

“A crate, stupid.”

“That’s one of the crates from the alley, isn’t it, Mr. Wright?”

“Yes, the crate that was moved the night of the murder. The crate that, if Mr. Vargas is telling the truth, he moved after Alfred’s arrest.”

“OBJECTION! There’s no proof Mr. Vargas was the one who moved the crate!”

“OBJECTION! Logically, it had to have been him. The crate wasn’t moved until _after_ Mr. Jones was arrested, the picture taken at the time of his arrest proves that.” POINT! “Since Mr. Vargas was allegedly hiding in the side alley at the time, he’s the only one who could have moved it!”

“Well Mr. Vargas? Did you move the crate?”

“Y-yeah…I moved the crate.”

“OBJECTION! That is impossible! OW!”

“OBJECTION! You just said he was the only one who could have moved it! Make up your foolish mind!”

“This crate weighs about a ton and was moved in the brief period of time between when the police were bringing Mr. Jones out of the alley and when they came back to survey the scene. Ms. Von Karma, do you know how long that is exactly?”

“…Less than a minute, if they were following protocol.”

“Mr. Vargas would have not been able to move the crate in that timeframe. Since somebody obviously did move the crate, _it means someone else was in that alley_.”

Murmur murmur murmur

BANG!

“Stupid! Idiot! Bastard!”

“Mr. Vargas, control yourself!”

“How do you know, eh? How do you know I couldn’t have moved it? I’m stronger than I look!”

“As much as the witness needs to _calm down_ -”

“OW!”

“He’s right. It’s foolish to judge someone by their appearance, Mr. Phoenix Wright.”

“Is that so? Then you wouldn’t mind _proving_ to us that you can push a something extremely heavy several by yourself in under a minute.”

“I, of course I wouldn’t mind dumbass! Shame I can’t though…”

“Nonsense! I’m sure we can think of something. I’m sure that witness stand weighs quite a bit.”

“I…well of course I _could_ lift it, if I was in peak condition, but I have this injury on my arm, so-”

“And how exactly did you get that injury, Mr. Vargas? It looks too recent for you to have gotten in Italy.”

“I, I tripped! I tripped and got hurt! It’s not related to this case at all.”

“I disagree,” POINT! “I think you got that injury the night of the murder. From the murder weapon no less!”

“What? What proof do you have of that? You can’t just say whatever you want in here bastard!”

“He’s right, Mr. Wright. Do you have any evidence that suggests that Mr. Vargas was hurt on the night of the murder?”

“Your Honor, would I make an accusation that I couldn’t back up with evidence?”

“

“Yes.”

“Absolutely.”

WHIP! “It’s your specialty.”

“I-in any case, I do have evidence to back up the claim that Mr. Vargas was hurt the night of the murder. TAKE THAT! The bullet with Mr. Vargas’s blood on it is more than enough proof. He may have explained what he was doing in the alley,” SLAM! “But he never explained _how his blood ended up on the bullet_.”

“Mr. Vargas, how exactly did your blood end up at the crime scene?”

“I, well, you see…it, you know-”

“Mr. Vargas?”

“I, I didn’t, it didn’t, I never-”

(Lovino…he’s a nervous wreck! Looks like he can’t lie his way out of this one.)

“Ms. Von Karma, can you control your witness?”

“Unfortunately I think you broke him in a way my whip can’t fix.”

“It, I, well, actually, never-”

“Ms. Von Karma, we need his testimony!”

“I, I can’t, I never-”

(At this rate we won’t be able to get anything else out of him, truth or not!)

“Romano.”

(Romano? I guess Alfred’s talking to Lovino…)

“Romano, it’s okay. I know you didn’t do it, and I don’t blame you for what’s happened.”

“…A-Alfred?”

“We really need to catch the guy who did this, and while I didn’t see him, I think you did. We’re all counting on you, Romano. It’s your turn to be the hero, so please tell the truth now.”

(I never knew Alfred could be so…reasonable. Let’s hope it has some effect on Lovino.)

“I…”

(He still looks nervous, but calmer somehow.)

“You’re right, Mr. Wright. I was shot that night at the scene of the crime by the murder. The real murderer.”

“You mean the killer… isn’t Mr. Jones?”

“No.”

Murmur murmur murmur

BANG BANG!

“Mr. Vargas, if Mr. Jones didn’t kill Congress Smith, who did?”

“It was a man by the name of Mr. Newspaper.”

“If you knew that all along, why didn’t you just tell us from the beginning?”

“Because he would have…gotten me. He’s a very dangerous man with more power than you can possibly imagine. I, I heard what he was planning to the Congressman and I was there to try in stop him but, I failed, like I always do. Alfred wasn’t even supposed to be there, he just got caught up in it.” Sniffle.

“You didn’t fail, Mr. Vargas.”

“Of course I failed idiot! He’s dead! I was there and he still died,” sniffle, “I w-was the only one who could s-stop him and…”

“R-Romano…”

“No, you haven’t failed yet. By telling us the truth, by telling us that not only did you see him in that alley that night, but that you saw him kill the Congressman is a very important part of bringing Mr. Newspaper down.”

Sniffle, “I-I don’t care what you think, bastard.”

_Lovino’s Testimony added to the Court Record._

“The Defense suggests that we bring in Mr. Newspaper to get to the bottom of this.”

“If the Prosecution has no objections…”

“Of course the prosecution has objections!” SLAM! “Mr. Vargas has proven to be a foolish and uncooperative witness thus far. Why should we take anything he says to be the truth? For all we know this could be another foolish ruse to protect Mr. Jones. We have nothing to tie this Mr. Newspaper to this other than his word.”

“This is true. I don’t want to call in another witness solely on the word of a witness who spent most of his testimony lying. Mr. Wright, do you have any evidence that suggest Mr. Newspaper is involved in this case somehow?”

(I…I don’t do I? Franziska will be quick to point out the flashbulb doesn’t have to be his, and other than that I’ve only got Lovino’s word that he was even there that night.)

“You know Mr. Wright, now would be a really good time for a big damn hero moment.”

(We could use a miracle…)

“Ve, or uh, OBIEZIONE!”

“Mr. Vargas?!”

“Feli, you idiot,” sniffle, “W-what are you doing here?”

“Mr. Wright! Mr. Judge! Ms. Von Karma! I have some _decisive evidence_ for you!”

(Is it…?) “Did, did Ludwig find what he was looking for?”

“Ve, he did! And he finished his analysis. But then we got attacked, so he shoved it in this mochi and had me bring it here.”

(Mochimerica?)

“Mochimerica!”

“OW!”

“Explain.”

“That’s my…mochi thing. It’s cool, it won’t bite.”

“And Ludwig has been doing a handwriting analysis on the slightly threatening letters that were found in Congressman Smith’s office. He was at Mr. Jones’s house looking for a sample of Mr. Newspaper’s handwriting.”

“And, hold on, ve, mochi, you need to cough it up now, ah, there it is. Here’s the results!”

“Well what does it say, Mr. Wright?”

(Perfect.) “Exactly what I thought. This analysis proves that Mr. Newspaper wrote the letters calling Congressman Smith to the alley that night! I believe that’s enough to tie him to this case.”

“I’m not sure how reliable Mr. Ludwig Wiellschimdt is. If he’s anything like his brother-”

“He is not; I can vouch for that myself. The Prosecution is willing to accept Mr. Wiellschmidt’s analysis into the court record.”

 “If that’s the case then let’s find this Mr. Newspaper and see what he has to say.”

“He should be in the court house somewhere.”

“If he’s here,” Whip! “Then I’ll find him.”

“This court will take a fifteen minute recess so Ms. Von Karma can locate the next witness.”

BANG!

_To be continued..._


	20. Day 4: Final Trial and Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr. Newspaper takes the stand, and the trial comes to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, the final chapter. I had doubts we would make it this far, but we did it, we made it! Rather than have the epilogue be a separate chapter and all you fine people wait even longer for a full conclusion, I've just tagged it on the end as a Coda, and as a fun treat for everyone who've read this before on the kink meme all those years before: something new.
> 
> I would like to thank everyone who has been faithfully following this story since it's origins on livejournal, to all the readers who only picked it up on ff.net or here but have been diligently waiting for me update after update, and those of you who have only stumbled across this story recently, decided to give it a try, and liked what they saw. I would not have been able to finish without the support of each and everyone one of you, so, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
> 
> And so, may I present, the final installment of Turnabout Hero.

**March 19, 11:20 AM. District Court, Defendant's Lobby No. 3**

"We did it!" Alfred cheered as Mochimerica climbed onto his shoulder, "We got Mr. Newspaper to take the stand!"

"Yes, but we still have only Lovino's word that he was even there that night," I sighed. Alfred's smile turned into a frown that turned into a glare, "Uh, well, it's a start. Hopefully our friends will find something that can nail him for good."

"Yeah," Alfred quickly pulled out his phone and checked it.

(Not good… he's probably worried about Arthur, Edgeworth, and the others. If Ludwig and Feliciano got attacked in their search… I should try to cheer him up somehow.)

"Uh, you did a good job calming Lovino down in there."

"Yeah well, Antonio was the one who taught me how to handle spooked wild horses. For some reason I figured it would work on Lovino."

(That makes very little sense, but for some reason I'm not surprised.)

"Whaddya think you're doing, Jack?" We both turned to find that sometime during our conversation, Mr. Newspaper had entered the room, "I practically  _hand_  Vargas to ya on a platter and ya just toss him aside! Ya don't  _want_  Alfie here to go to jail, do ya?"

"No, but I'm not going to condemn an innocent man to that fate just to get him off."

"Dunno what ya talkin' about, Jack," he pulled out his phone and started typing, "All the evidence points to Vargas."

Alfred stepped forward, rage in his eyes, "If you lay a hand on Miss Maya-"

"Dunno what  _you're_  talkin' about either Alfie," he dug a hand in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, "It's true that Sweetcheeks has been kidnapped, but I've heard it on good authority – that would be my reports, just so ya know – that Maya Fey was taken by mobsters working under Lovino Vargas."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"See for yourself," he handed me the paper, a list of well known mafia bosses, underlings, employees, in the area, all shown to be on the payroll of have paid off at some point in their careers a Mr. L. Vargas.

Alfred read the paper over my shoulder, seething in rage with every word, "Why are you doing this?"

"You'll find out soon enough," he grinned, putting his phone back in his pocket, "Some of those mobsters were being put out of business by Congressman Smith. That sounds like Vargas's motive to me. When you present this decisive piece of evidence in court during my testimony-"

"No," I handed the paper back to him, "I know Lovino didn't do it. This evidence won't help me win. I can't present it."

Mr. Newspaper glared but returned the paper to his pocket, "I see. Whelp, it looks like ya hafta use option 2. You're lucky I left ya with an option 2."

Alfred eyed him suspiciously, "What's option 2?"

"Real simple, Alfie: present your file as evidence. No judge in their right mind will convict ya if they knew who you  _really_  were."

"You can't! What about our privacy?" Alfred's eyes grew wide and frantic, "I mean, I don't mind letting a few people here and there discover the truth, but if everyone found out so suddenly, not just mine, but everyone's private lives will be compromised!"

"Yeah, thems the brakes," Mr. Newspaper chuckled, "Either convict Vargas or expose ya true nature."

"Thanks for your advice," I said, meeting his gaze with a fiery glare of my own, "but I think I'll take the third option."

"I see," he said, eyes cold and calculating, "So that's how ya wanna play it," he smirked and pulled out his phone again, "one call, one tweet, and I can't guarantee what shape ya'll see her in."

"If you even have the time."

"Recess is over," the bailiff called, grabbing Mr. Newspaper and confiscating his phone, "You're needed in the other room."

Mr. Newspaper gave me one last warning glare before he followed after the bailiff.

"He'll find a way," Alfred said, staring off after him, "He'll get a message out to hurt Miss Maya if we're not careful."

"We just have to hold out until Edgeworth and the others find her."

"Not like we have much of a choice there. We still don't have enough evidence to convict him."

"Well, that's what testimony is for. On that front, we'll just have to hold out until Arthur and the others find what we need."

"That's a lot of holding out Mr. Wright."

"Well isn't that what heroes do best?"

Alfred grinned, "I guess so," and we went into the courtroom together.

* * *

**March 19, 11:30 AM. District Court, Courtroom No. 3**

Murmur murmur murmur.

BANG!

"Ms. Von Karma, have you been able to find our lost witness?"

"I have, and he is…ready to speak." WHIP! "Or as ready as he'll ever be."

"Witness, please state your name and occupation."

"Mr. Newspaper: Reporter Extraordinaire. If there's a story to report, I'm on it, and if there ain't, there will be soon."

"That's very, uh, well. Please tell us out your connection to the crime."

"Sure thing, Pops."

_WITNESS TESTIMONY_  
\--Connection to the Crime, You Say?--

_The truth is, I ain't really got a connection._  
I'm a reporter, so yeah I know things most people don't.  
But that's not a crime, is it, Jack?

"Are we really going to be dealing with this attitude again?"

"Just, Your Honor, can I…?"

"Very well, Mr. Wright. Cross-examine the witness."

_CROSS-EXAMINATION  
_ \--Connection to the Crime, You Say?--

_The truth is, I ain't really got a connection._

"OBJECTION!" SLAM! "Mr. Newspaper, are you still willing to make that statement after you see-"

Beep beep beep.

"Witness! Just what on earth do you think you're doing in the middle of questioning!?"

"Sorry, Pops. I just gotta tweet some friends real quick-like. They want to know how the cross-examination is going, Mr. Wright. What should I tell them?"

"I, uh, well…" (I think I know what friends he's talking about.)

"Ow!"

"This is a court of law! You will cease your foolish actions at once so we can continue with the trial!"

"Alright, sheesh. You were saying Jack? About my connection to the crime?"

(He still has his phone out…) "Uh, never mind."

"Mr. Wright, please don't object unless you have something important to say. I'm afraid I'm going to have to penalize you."

(That didn't win me any points with the judge…)

"Mr. Wright, we've got a problem…"

"Is it, if we object to anything he says in his testimony, he'll send his mafia friends after Maya? Because I'm fully aware of that problem."

"I was going to say Edgeworth still hasn't gotten back to us about Maya's situation, but yeah. Basically the same thing. What are we going to do?"

(Good question. We can't object to anything he says, or else he's going to hurt Maya, and we can't just let him say whatever he wants, or else Lovino is going to end up with the blame. We can't stall for time like this! What are we supposed to do now?)

"Mr. Wright? Do you have any questions for the witness?"

"I, uh…well…"

BANG! "Sorry if we're intruding a little late. We seem to have missed the recess."

"Mr. Edgeworth! You of all people should know not to interrupt a trial in progress!"

"Very sorry, Your Honor. We got a bit lost- OUCH!"

"Miles Edgeworth you foolish fool this is a trial in progress and you just-"

"Nick!"

"Maya?!"

"Nick I'm alright now, so give this guy what's coming to him, alright?"

"Maya…"

Murmur murmur murmur.

BANG! BANG!

"Order! Enough of this! Mr. Edgeworth, Ms. Fey, please take your seats so we can continue with this trial!"

(Maya's alive, Maya's alright, so that means we don't have to hold back any longer.)

"Your Honor, I would like to continue with Mr. Newspaper's cross-examination."

"Very well, Mr. Wright, but you better produce results this time."

_The truth is, I ain't really got a connection._

"OBJECTION!" SLAM! "If that's the case, Mr. Newspaper, then what do you say about these?"

"I'm not exactly following Jack. Those letter could have been written by anyone."

"Except they weren't, were they?" POINT! "Our handwriting analysis proves that these vaguely threatening letters that were sent to the Congressman on the day of his death  _could only have been written by you_!"

Murmur murmur murmur

BANG!

"Witness, explain yourself."

"Well, yeah, I wrote the letters. But that's only because, well…"

(I don't like that smile on his face…)

"That's only 'cause Lovino Vargas made me write them."

"What?!"

"W-whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!"

"Witness! What do you mean by that?"

"Vargas made me write them. He wanted to call out the Congressman and he knew that I had the connections to do it. He threatened me and made me write them."

"So, you're saying that Mr. Vargas is the killer?"

"I hate to point fingers but yes. That is what I'm saying."

"So this whole testimony has been a waste of time."

"OBJECTION! Even if this witness was threatened, he's still related to the crime. I think he should provide more testimony about what he was doing that night."

"Very well. Witness, please tell the court what you were doing the night of the murder."

"If you say so."

_WITNESS TESTIMONY_  
\--The Night of the Murder, You Say?--

" _Vargas made me write those letters to the Congressman._  
Deliver them too, so that's what I did.  
After that, I didn't really want to get involved with whatever Vargas was planning.  
I felt that I had already caused enough damage already.  
I spent the night at the office, alone, working well into the night far away from the crime scene."

"You should have told the police sooner if Mr. Vargas was threatening you."

"Sorry Pops, but threats are scary. I didn't know what would happen, you know?"

"I understand, but if you come clean sooner you won't find yourself in these kinds of situations. Mr. Wright, if you please."

"I'm on it, Your Honor."

"Be careful what you ask him, Mr. Wright."

"What?"

"Remember, he's trying to blame Lovino for all of this, and he has the 'evidence' to do it too, even if it is fabricated. Ask him the wrong questions and you could end up falling right into his trap."

"Right." (Looks like I'll need to watch my step around him.)

_CROSS-EXAMINATION  
_ \--The Night of the Murder, You Say?--

_After that, I didn't really want to get involved with whatever Vargas was planning._

"HOLD IT! You know what was going to happen to the Congressman? And you didn't even try to warn him?"

"Like I said, I was scared. Vargas has all kinds of connections with-"

SLAM! (I can't give him an opportunity to bring out that list.) "You didn't try to stop him? Didn't go down to the alley yourself?"

"No, or else Vargas might have called-"

POINT! "It's strange, Mr. Newspaper, because a reporter being threatened by a murder suspect and the subsequent murder of a Congressman, that seems like quite a scoop to me."

"…Eh?"

"You knew a murder was going to take place, and you, a man of the press, didn't even consider going down to see what was happening?"

"I, well, I had other things to worry about that night."

"You've made sure you were the first on any scoop involving this story so far. It seems a bit strange that you would stumble with the very incident that started it all."

"…"

"…"

"Geeze, Lady, you're awfully quiet over there. You're the prosecutor, ain't ya? Aren't ya gonna object to – OW!"

"Fool, I don't see anything in Mr. Wright's statements worth objecting to. I am here to prove that Mr. Jones killed the Congressman, and your testimony as it stands says otherwise. Quite frankly, you have been an annoying, foolish pest this whole trial, and I am very curious about where is going myself."

(Is Franziska…on my side? Either way, It looks like she's going to give me free reign over the cross-examination.)

"Fine then, I'll say it. Even if it does seem a bit strange to you, Jack, this is a court of law and only evidence stands here. That's what I said happened, so unless you can prove otherwise, that's what happened."

(Guess I should try another angle then.)

_I spent the night at the office, alone, working well into the night away from the crime scene._

"OBJECTION! If you recall the reason we dragged you on the witness stand, it's because Lovino Vargas testified that he saw you in the alley that night," POINT! "And, more importantly, that you fired the gun that killed the Congressman!"

"Hahaha! You're actually going to take Vargas's word over mine? All offense intended Jack, but Vargas ain't known for telling the truth."

"Ow!"

"OBJECTION! This is a court of law Phoenix Wright! If you are going to take Mr. Vargas's word over the witnesses, you need to have evidence to back it up. Do you have it?"

"O-of course I think I might possibly have something maybe-"

"Of course we have evidence!"

(Alfred?)

"Making baseless claims without evidence! Who does that?"

(Alfred!)

"Well Mr. Wright? Do you have evidence to back Mr. Vargas's testimony that Mr. Newspaper was in the alley that night?"

"Of course I do!" (I hope…wait, I still have  _that_.) "TAKE THAT! Mr. Newspaper, do you recognize this?"

"Hey, that's my flashbulb! Where did you, oh no."

"I found this near the crime scene. Care to explain how it got there?"

"Obviously because, I've been in and out of the crime scene a lot since the murder, you know, 'cause I'm covering the story and everything. I dropped it after the murder."

"OBJECTION! That's impossible! Ow!"

"Phoenix Wright! I can't just allow you to make baseless claims without any proof."

"I, well…"

"Of course we have proof! Mr. Wright wouldn't say we would if we didn't!"

(…Thanks Alfred…)

"Oh? Well then I am looking forward to see this proof."

"Same here."

"Yes Mr. Wright, what proof do you have that Mr. Newspaper dropped the flashbulb before the murder?"

(I should have all the pieces for this. I just need to put them together.) "TAKE THAT! It rained on March 10th."

"Yeah, that's great, Jack, but I don't see what that has to do with-"

SLAM! "More importantly it hasn't rained since!" POINT! "The flashbulb was still wet when I found it, meaning that it had to have been dropped before or during the rainstorm on March 10th, around the time the murder took place. You were there Mr. Newspaper! You were at the crime scene on the night of the murder!"

Murmur murmur murmur

BANG BANG!

"Witness!"

"Yeah?"

"If you were at the scene of the crime on the night of the murder, you need to tell the court what happened! It's very suspicious otherwise."

(Not to mention illegal.)

"Sorry 'bout that, but Jack here already took the notes way out of context. If I'd let it slip that I was actually there when it when down, who knows what he would have accused me of."

(How about the murder that you actually committed? That sounds fair to me.)

"Very well, but we will need to hear your testimony on what you saw in the alley that night."

"Got it, Pops."

_WITNESS TESTIMONY  
_ \--What Happened in the Alley, You Say?--

" _The lawyer's right, I couldn't resist the scoop after Vargas so graciously handed it to me._  
So I went down to the alley that night and waited in the side alley.  
The Congressman showed up first, Vargas a bit after him.  
Then Vargas drew a gun and BAM! Fired two shots at 'im.  
The first shot missed and hit the wall. The second found its mark.  
Alfie showed up just then and Vargas scampered up the fire escape."

"So you're saying that Mr. Vargas killed the Congressman, not Mr. Jones?"

"That's how it happened."

"But why would Mr. Vargas want to kill the Congressman?"

"Well-"

"HOLD IT! I-it's my job to cross-examine the witness, Your Honor."

"Oh yes, quite right. You may proceed, Mr. Wright."

_CROSS-EXAMINATION  
_ \--What Happened in the Alley, You Say?--

_So I went down to the alley that night and waited in the side alley._

"HOLD IT! You knew that Congressman Smith was going to be murdered, yet you stood by and did nothing?"

"Never said I knew  _exactly_ what was going down. I knew Vargas was planning to do  _something_  with the Congressman, I personally thought it was just extortion or maybe just a threat."

"Even so, when the murder did happen, you still didn't do anything to stop it."

"Whaddya expect me to do, Jack? Vargas had a gun! I'm only a reporter. Most I could have done is gotten shot myself."

(I definitely don't like that smug attitude of his.) "He's your media, Alfred. What should I do?"

"He's a reporter, so he's bound to have an answer for every question you throw at him."

"So your advice?"

"Stop asking questions."

(Thanks…I think.)

_The first shot missed and hit the wall. The second found its mark._

"OBJECTION! You said the first shot didn't hit anyone? Just the wall?"

"Well, yeah-"

"Really? Because Mr. Vargas's blood on the second bullet found at the scene says otherwise!"

"Eh?"

"The first bullet fired from the murder weapon hit Mr. Vargas before it hit the wall. Tell me, why would Mr. Vargas shoot himself?"

"W-well, ya see, Vargas is a terrible shot…"

"So bad that the bullet went in the complete opposite direction?"

"…Yes?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Or no, wait, yeah, I remember now."

(How convenient, since no one bought your last lie.)

"Yeah, the victim fired the first shot at Vargas, and then Vargas took the gun and shot him!"

"OBJECTION! That's not possible!"

"Eh?"

"Mr. Wright, what do you mean by that?"

(Maya and I were able to work this out the other day.) "It's impossible for the victim to have shot Mr. Vargas, and this evidence proves it. TAKE THAT!"

"The crime scene photo? Where on this photo is the proof?"

"TAKE THAT! The wall where the second bullet was found."

"I don't get what you're saying, Jack. If anything that proves what I'm saying – ow!"

"Fool. That's the same wall where the body was. In order to have shot him straight through the heart, the killer would have to have been right in front of him, facing that wall."

"Which means that if the victim did shot Mr. Vargas, the bullet would have to be in the other wall."

"…Eh?"

BANG BANG!

"I've had enough of this! From what I can gather from the witness's testimony, it is his belief that Mr. Vargas killed Congressman Smith, however, the question both the prosecution and the defense seem to be ignoring is why?"

"What?"

(No…)

"Witness, why would Mr. Vargas want to kill Congressman Smith?"

(After all that the judge goes and hands him the perfect opening.)

"Well that's obviously because of his mafia connections."

"Mafia connections? This is the first I'm hearing about it!"

"Yup, mafia connections. Since I'm a reporter I know things like this, and I have proof."

_Mafia List added to Court Record._

"Well this…changes everything. It seems I have no choice but to –"

"OBJECTION!"

"OW! Ms. Von Karma?!"

"This trial is to determine whether or not Alfred F. Jones killed Congressman Smith. If the witness has nothing to say on that matter-"

"It's obvious, ain't it? If Vargas killed 'im that means Alfie didn't. Even you should be able to figure that out, Lady."

SLAM! "You completely foolishly foolish fool!" SLAM SLAM! "Your foolishly foolish tomfoolery will not be foolishly tolerated!" SLAM SLAM SLAM! "You, you, fool!"

(I think she's reached her fool limit.)

"We need more testimony from this witness."

"What other testimony could he possibly give us?"

"Fool!" Whip! "We need more testimony on Mr. Vargas's motive. If he is so adamant that Mr. Vargas foolishly committed this crime, then he should be prepared to back it up with more than a questionable piece of paper."

"I agree with the prosecution."

"M-Mr. Wright? I don't understand. This testimony completely clears your client."

"Yes, well, I think there's more going on here than the witness is letting on. We should hear more testimony."

"Very well. Witness, please tell us about Mr. Vargas's plan."

"'Kay…"

_WITNESS TESTIMONY  
_ \--Vargas's Plan, You Say?--

" _There wasn't much to the plan really._  
Call the Congressman out to the alley, then shoot 'im and blame Alfie.  
As for the why, well his mafia connections of course.  
The anti mafia legislation the Congressman was working on would have hurt some of Vargas's friends.  
With him out of the way, they can keep up their businesses."

"And that's what happened?"

"If I said it, then it must be true."

"Mr. Wright, if you please."

_CROSS-EXAMINATION_  
\--Vargas's Plan, You Say?--

_There wasn't much to the plan really._

"HOLD IT! What makes you say there wasn't much to the plan? Having you send the letters, pinning the whole thing on someone else, this all seems pretty convoluted to me."

"Well I guess it would be hard for someone like ya to follow."

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?"

"You're not the criminal type, Jack."

(I guess so…)

"Or maybe you're just stupid, either way."

(Grr...)

"Witness there will be plenty of time to insult the defense later. Please continue with your testimony."

_Call the Congressman out to the alley, then shoot 'im and blame Alfie._

"HOLD IT! Mr. Vargas's planned to blame Mr. Jones the whole time?"

"Yeah, kinda silly if you ask me, but it's his crazy murder plan."

"But Mr. Jones only came to the alley by chance."

"Because he heard gunshots. Anyone who knows Alfie's hero kink can summon 'im like that."

"He only heard the gunshots because he was close enough to hear them, which was only because he had that fight with Mr. Kirkland," POINT! "He was only there by chance. How could Mr. Vargas had planned to pin it on him?"

"…Someone."

"What?"

"Vargas planned to blame it on someone, and Alfie just happened to be there."

"That's not what you-"

"Yeah, well, it's what I meant, and really, it ended up being Alfie anyway, so does it really matter?"

(I…suppose not.)

_As for the why, well his mafia connections of course._

"HOLD IT! About these mafia connections, how do we know they're real?"

"What do ya mean, Jack? I gave ya the list."

"Yes, a list you created," POINT! "You could have made it all up to cover your tracks!"

"How dare you? I am here defending  _your_  client, and ya have the absolute  _gall_  to throw this slander at me?"

SLAM! "Then where did the list come from, Mr. Newspaper? Name your source!"

"My source was anonymous, for safety reasons. As a reporter, it's my job to protect my sources, just like, as a lawyer, it's your job to protect your clients. At least one of us is doing his job here!"

(I'm really starting to hate him.)

_The anti mafia legislation the Congressman was working on would have hurt some of Vargas's friends._

"HOLD IT! In what ways would the Congressman's legislation have hurt Mr. Vargas's alleged friends?"

"In general ways."

"Can you be more specific?"

"Just, you know, it would have hurt them in general."

"How can you expect us to believe that this legislation is Mr. Vargas's motive when you can't even name a single thing on it?"

"Listen, Jack, it doesn't matter what was specifically on the legislation in the end. The fact that he was doing it in the first place was motive enough."

"I don't see how."

"Well, 'cause you're not a criminal type. Or maybe you're just slow."

"If the witness could please stop insulting the defense and continue with his testimony?"

_With him out of the way, they can keep up their businesses._

"HOLD IT! Would killing the Congressman have really stopped the legislations?"

"…What do ya mean?"

"I mean, if what you say is true and this is the real reason the Congressman was killed, wouldn't it have given the rest of Congress more incentive to pass the legislation in his honor?"

"…Yeah, probably."

POINT! "If that's the case, then how does any of this make sense?"

"How should I know? It wasn't my plan in the first place. If ya want the answer to that, ask Vargas yourself."

SLAM! "This is  _your_  testimony, Mr. Newspaper!  _Your_  logic being presented! If you can't defend your own theory-"

"Hey, whoa, back up a smidge there. I'm only presenting the facts as I see them. Ya asked me to testify about Vargas's motive, so I'm telling ya what I know. I can't know more than I know, ya know?"

"I…what?"

"If ya want to know the ins and outs, try asking the man in the know himself."

(That's what I'm trying to do!)

"And by that, I obviously mean Vargas, because I clearly can't know, ya know?"

(I'm getting a headache…)

"We're kinda stuck, aren't we, Mr. Wright?"

"What makes you say that?"

"We can't keep up this line of questioning, he'll just keep lying and make Lovino look guilty. And we can't just not ask him anything, or else…"

"Or else either you or Lovino takes the bullet for him."

"So, we're stuck?"

"Well, there is one option we still have."

"You mean, presenting my file as evidence?"

"No one would dare blame you for murder if they knew who you were. And if your secret is out, then so is Lovino's, and they wouldn't charge him for murder either. "

"Yeah, but the cost is everyone's privacy."

"It's your file, Alfred, your secret. I'll let you make the call."

"…If, if you think that's the only way, then so be it. I trust your judgment Mr. Wright."

(It's the easiest way right now, for certain, but is it the only one? What would Mia do?)

"Mr. Wright? Do you have any more questions for the witness?"

"Maybe you need me to explain a certain piece of evidence you have in your possession?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." (It might not be easy, but there is another way. There has to be.) "There is one piece of evidence that's been bugging me for a while. TAKE THAT!"

"What?"

"What?"

"…"

"The crime scene photo Mr. Wright?"

"Yes."

"…What's wrong with the crime scene photo?"

"It seems strange to me that we have it at all. Who took it?"

"Fool. As I have already mentioned when I submitted the evidence, it was taken by the officers who first arrived at the crime scene to arrest Mr. Jones."

"Yes and how many police officers happen to go on patrol with cameras at the ready just in case? It's not only strange, it's illogical."

"What are you implying, Mr. Wright?"

POINT! "That this picture was taken by none other than the real killer in an attempt to frame my client!"

"Yeah, so Vargas took the picture-"

"OBJECTION! I never said that. We have already proven that Mr. Vargas was long gone by the time this picture was taken. The person who took it, the  _real_  killer, is not him."

"So, Mr. Wright, who do you think the real killer is?"

"The real killer, the one person who could have possibly taken this picture, can only be," POINT! "Mr. Newspaper!"

"But the witness has been insistent on the fact that Mr. Jones is innocent. Why would he take a picture that incriminates him?"

"Mr. Newspaper needed someone to take the fall for him, it didn't matter who. Mr. Vargas was already gone, and Mr. Jones was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Hahaha, that's rich, Jack."

"Witness, the defense just made a very serious accusation against you! This is no laughing matter."

"It's hilarious actually. You're actually gonna pin this on me? Just how much is Vargas paying ya?"

"Wh-what?"

"It's obvious ain't it? The only reason you'd go so far out of your way to accuse me instead of Vargas is because you're in his pocket."

SLAM! "That's ridiculous!"

"I thought Alfie would pick better lawyers, but- OW!"

"Fool! Phoenix Wright accepting bribes from a criminal? I'd sooner snap my whip in half and start a career as a rodeo clown!"

"Of course you'd be in on it too, wouldn't you? It's the only explanation for why you wouldn't take my evidence to court."

WHIP! "Foolishly foolish fool!" WHIP! "As I told you when you first showed me that questionable list, this trial is to prove that Mr. Jones is guilty. Anything concerning Mr. Vargas and his alleged involvement is of no concern to me."

"You know who would say that? A communist."

"You have ceased to make any rational sense!"

"Just like a Commie…"

BANG BANG!

"Enough! We are getting nowhere with this cross-examination, or this witness!"

"I agree, on both accounts."

"The defense has proposed one theory of the crime accusing the Witness, the Witness has proposed another accusing yet another suspect, and the prosecution insists that it was the defendant. As this is the last day of the trial we must reach a conclusion today, but so far we've only succeeded at making the situation even murkier. With both the Witness and the defense unable to clearly provide evidence of their theories, I have no choice but to agree with the prosecution's presentation of the facts."

(No!)

"At this time I am prepared to render a verdict. With all the evidence that has been clearly presented, I have no choice but to find the defendant, Alfred F. Jones, Gui-"

_I'm on a boat! I'm on a boat! Take a good hard look at the-_

"Oh, sorry, that's mine. Gimme a sec."

"Mr. Jones, it's very inappropriate to have your phone on during your own trial."

"Yeah, sorry, but it's kinda important…Hello?

Arthur! Where are you? In kind of a pinch here…

Oh, okay, well how soon can you get here?

Really? Just, might be a bit hard, but, um, we'll try.

Okay, thanks. See you soon."

"Alfred? Was that Arthur?"

"Yeah, he said he has the evidence, wouldn't tell me what it was, and said he'd be here soon and to stall for time."

"The judge is about to declare you guilty! I don't think stalling for time is an option!"

"Well, he said to ask Mr. Newspaper about the Congressman."

"The judge is about to pass a verdict! A guilty verdict!"

"Yeah, well, try?"

"Mr. Wright!"

"Y-yes, Your Honor?"

"Is everything alright?"

"Not really, we just, don't think we've heard everything we could from this witness yet."

"Fool, what else could we possibly hear from him?"

"And could we even get a straight answer out of him?"

"Well, we've spent a lot of time talking about the crime and what happened that night, whether it was actually possible if Mr. Jones did or didn't do it, but we're missing a really big piece of the puzzle, something necessary for any crime: a motive."

"W-what?"

"We've never heard anyone give a reason for Mr. Jones to have killed the Congressman." POINT! "As such, I would like to have the Witness give testimony on the Congressman himself!"

"And just why would I be able to do that, Jack?"

"Uh, well, you're a reporter are you not? As a reporter, in DC no less, you should know about people, especially Congresspeople, and why someone would want to kill them."

"Mr. Wright has a point. I am willing to postpone my verdict for a bit more testimony. Witness, please tell us about the victim and his relationship with the defendant."

(Alright Arthur, I'm taking your advice. Please don't let me down.)

WITNESS TESTIMONY  
\--So, You Want To Know About The Victim?--

" _It's simple really: Alfie works for the government.  
_ _As part of his job he's in and out of Congress all the time, so that's how he knew Congressman Smith._  
They were on pretty good terms actually.  
Vargas knew him pretty well through his mafia connections.  
He was always sending in people and letters about something or other.  
As for me, like you said Jack, I'm a reporter, and reporters have to know people.  
Congressman Smith was not particularly close to me, in any sense of the word."

"Remember Mr. Wright, we need to stall for Arthur."

(Assuming he'll show up in time…)

"He'll be here, I know it. Do your best."

"I'll try."

"Don't try, do."

(Right, of course. This is no time to second guess yourself, or Arthur. Alfred trusts him, so he'll show up, and I need to do my best to stall for time until he gets here.)

"Mr. Wright, you may cross-examine the witness.

CROSS-EXAMINATION  
\--So, You Want To Know About The Victim?--

" _They were on pretty good terms actually."_

"HOLD IT! What exactly do you mean by good terms?"

"They got along. The two of them were real great pals. Heck everyone gets along with Alfie; I mean can you blame them? The guy's a saint, wouldn't hurt a fly, and I'll tell you – OW!"

"OBJECTION! The witness is foolishly using this opportunity to present his biased opinion as fact."

"Jack over there asked a question. I was only stating what I observed, like any good reporter."

"The foolish defense foolishly asked about the defendant and the victim's relationship, not for your 100 point thesis on why Alfred F. Jones is the bee's knees." WHIP! "Stick to the point!"

"Yeesh, fine…"

" _He was always sending in people and letters about something or other."_

"HOLD IT! You mean Mr. Vargas never went to see him himself?"

"No, that's not really how Vargas rolls if you know what I mean."

"Um, no, not really." (That's why I asked.)

"Why would Vargas go talk to someone when he can send people to do it for him?"

"Well, if that's the case, and if Mr. Vargas did actually kill the Congressman like you say, why wouldn't he just send someone to do that too?"

"Eh? What do ya mean?"

"If Mr. Vargas sent people to do something as simple as talk to a person, why wouldn't he do the same for something as complicated as murder?"

"You really have no idea how these things work do you, Jack? Definitely not the criminal type."

"Of course not."

"Or maybe you're just not bright."

SLAM! "Just answer the question!"

"If you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself. If Vargas sent someone to kill him, they could have messed everything up."

"Well, it's not like everything went off smoothly as is."

"'Course it did, Jack. Alfie's the one on trial, isn't he? Not Vargas."

"But he let you, an eye witness, escape. That seems like a mistake to me."

"I suppose he knew that even my good friend Alfred's defense team wouldn't believe my tale. Alas, how disappointing it is to know that he is right and your doubt will let him walk free."

(Why did your accent change? Playing up the drama I suppose.)

" _Congressman Smith was not particularly close to me, in any sense of the word."_

"HOLD IT! What makes you say that you weren't particularly close?"

"We knew each other, of course. I know everyone on Capitol Hill, and everyone who's anyone knows me. But aside from that, there wasn't much to our relationship."

"That's it?"

"He was no different than the countless other politicians who have passed through DC over the years."

(Why don't I believe that?)

"So, what do you think, Alfred?"

"We have to trust Arthur, and Arthur said to focus on Congressman Smith. If Mr. Newspaper is evading you're questions…"

(Then he must be doing it for a reason.)

" _Congressman Smith was not particularly close to me, in any sense of the word."_

"OBJECTION! Mr. Newspaper, I'm sure you recognize these? After all you did admit to writing them."

"Yeah, the Vaguely Threatening Letters, I know, Jack. But I also recall telling you that Vargas made me write them."

"Yes, I recall that too," POINT! "That's why I find it strange that, since you didn't know the Congressman all that well, Mr. Vargas specifically had you write them."

"Eh?"

"There are plenty of reporters in DC, several of which I'm sure were more involved with the Congressman then you were. Why would Mr. Vargas have you be the one to write the letters calling him out when he'd be more likely to respond to someone he knew better?"

"The, the letters were, were anonymous anyway. I didn't have to sign them or anything; they just needed to be in my handwriting."

"Still, why did Mr. Vargas have  _you_ personally write the letters and create a witness out of an accomplished reporter, especially when anyone off the street could have done the exact same job?"

"Mr. Wright raises a valid point. If Mr. Vargas is the killer, why would he have Mr. Newspaper write the vaguely threatening letters?

"Because the killer isn't Mr. Vargas," WHIP! "It's the defendant, Mr. Jones. That you for proving that out for me Mr. Wright"

"OBJECTION! J-just because Mr. Vargas isn't the killer doesn't mean Mr. Jones is."

"Are you still insisting it's me, Jack? Because I ain't no killer."

"Double negative, doesn't that mean you are the killer?"

"It's called a dialect, Alfie. You of all people should know that. I ain't the killer. If you're trying to prove otherwise, you're going to need a bit more than some letters I was forced to write and shaky reasoning of my connections to the victim."

"Would conclusive evidence be enough for you?"

(Arthur!)

"Arthur! You made it!"

Murmur murmur murmur

BANG! BANG!

"Order! Mr. Kirkland, what are you doing here?"

"Yeah, just what are you doing here alive and unharmed, Limey?"

"It's just as I said," Sip, "I've come across some decisive evidence that will confirm Mr. Wrights version of events."

"What?"

"What!"

"…"

(What?)

"You, you're bluffing, Limey! There, there definitely ain't no evidence to prove I'm the killer because I ain't the killer!"

"I'm afraid not. It's all here."

"Now Mr. Kirkland, I assume you mean well, but there really is a process when submitting evidence to the court-"

"I've already had the Chief of Police sign off on it, and run a handwriting analysis. These notes, written by Mr. Newspaper, are perfectly acceptable pieces of evidence."

"And we're just going to accept that? From a guy who came in here a few days ago and outright lied on the stand?"

"Are you doubting my honor, Mr. Newspaper? Do you believe I would forge evidence?"

"Your entire testimony was false, Kirkland. Why should we trust anything you've produced?"

"The witness has a point, Mr. Kirkland…"

"I'll accept it."

"M-Ms. Von Karma? You'd accept Mr. Kirkland's evidence, even though it might be faked?"

"I'll take my chances," WHIP! "Mr. Kirkland may be one to lie on the stand, but he's not the type to falsify evidence. The Prosecution is willing to allow Mr. Kirkland's evidence into the court record."

"Well then Mr. Wright, what do you think?"

(Alfred trusted Arthur brought real evidence, and I trust Alfred, as my client, friend, and country, I suppose. Besides I've already come this far. It would be useless to back off now when I have Mr. Newspaper right where I want him.) "The Defense trusts Mr. Kirkland. We're willing to accept his evidence."

"Very well. The Court will accept Mr. Kirkland's evidence."

_Suspiciously Detailed Notes added to Court Record_

"This…Mr. Newspaper, this is clear evidence that you've planned the murder and the outcome down to the smallest details. Do you have anything to say in your own defense?"

"…"

"This evidence is conclusive. It would be foolish of him to say anymore." WHIP! "All it lacks is a motive."

"Oh, ya want motive? I'll give you motive. They'll be tellin' this story for ages to come! I did it all for you Alfie!"

(He said as much before when we confronted him the other day.)

"W-What? What are you talking about? I never asked you to! I never  _wanted_ you to do any of this!"

"Ya don't even know do ya? Ha! HAHAHA!" SLAM! "I've  _always_ been there for you, hell most of the time I was the  _only_  one there for you. And this, HAHAHA, this is how you repay me! Poor, innocent Alfie,  _everything_ I do is for you!"

"I don't understand!" SLAM! "How could you even think that I wanted this?"

"You've been feeling down lately, haven't you? A bit discouraged? Underappreciated? Well what better way to make you look better then to make someone else look worse? It's all about publicity these days, Alfie dear."

"You didn't have to kill anyone!"

"Of course I did! Sad fact of life, but people die! If I happen to speed it up in the cause of helping you, so be it. People do it all the time anyway, Mr. Ame-"

BANG BANG! "I think I've heard enough. Bailiff, please arrest the witness."

"Fine, yes, you've got me, HAHAHA, no, I'll come quietly, don't worry, HAHA. Well played, Mr. Wright, Ms. Von Karma. I've lost this round, but I'm sure I'll see you again in the funny pages."

"Well, that was…interesting."

"Alfred, are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. No worries."

(You don't look fine…)

"But this means we won right?"

"Indeed. This case has taken some very interesting turns, but with this latest development I can safely and without a doubt find the defendant, Alfred F. Jones:

"NOT GUILTY."

* * *

**March 19, 3:35 PM. District Court, Defendant's Lobby No. 3**

"Well," I sighed in relief, "I'm glad that's over."

"Yeah," Alfred bit his lip and looked away.

"What's wrong?" I asked, but before he could answer a whip sounded through the room, "Franziska!"

"Phoenix Wright," she nodded, "I suppose I should congratulate you on your win."

"Thanks, for that and for all your help too."

"I didn't do it for you. I didn't trust that fool of a witness in the first place. He tried to offer me that list of his and steer my investigation towards Lovino Vargas. A foolish maneuver, as I repeatedly informed him that my case was against Alfred Jones and Alfred Jones alone. Eventually it got to the point where I wanted to see him squirm, even if it meant Mr. Jones walked free," she smirked and turned to face Alfred, "although I suppose there are worse outcomes. You're a fool, but an innocent fool. Even I can see that."

Alfred smiled, although it didn't quite reach his eyes, "Thanks Ms. Von Karma, for taking the case and prosecuting it so well."

"You're quite welcome. It was most certainly my pleasure. Speaking as the prosecutor, it would have been foolish to convict you. No fool would find their own nation guilty for murder."

I balked, "You, you knew the whole time?"

"Of course I did, I've been spending most of the past few days dealing with the fallout a certain foolish former empire brought upon my own nation. Are you telling me you didn't?"

"I, figured it out eventually." (Or Edgeworth did anyway.)

"You're a fool, so I'm not surprised," she shook her head; "I simply came to congratulate you on your win and not accidently incarcerating America. Now that I've done so, I do need to go find Gilbert. Ludwig is, insisting that he return to Germany, but doesn't trust him to do so on his own." With a menacing look in her eyes and a quick wave, she left the courtroom.

Just then, I was tackled from behind.

"Nick! You did it!" Maya shouted as she bowled me over.

"Maya!" I laughed as I hugged her back, "I'm glad you're alright."

"Not bad, Wright," I heard Edgeworth say as we stood up again.

"Edgeworth! Thanks, for finding Maya, and everything."

"Oh, well, yes," he cleared his throat, "That was mostly Gumshoe, Yong Soo, and Yao. You should really thank them when you get a chance."

"They're waiting at a burger place not too far from here," Arthur said as he approached us, "Along with Francis, Kiku, Ivan, and the others. Celebration party and what not."

"Burgers?" Maya perked up, "As the amazing defense team that got Alfred off, we're invited to this right?"

"Of course, how else is Mr. Wright going to thank us for all our hard work?"

"Yeah, thanks Arthur. You really came through for us at the end."

"Oh, well," he blushed and shuffled his feet, "N-no problem. Don't misunderstand though! I didn't do it for you, o-or for Alfred! I was merely making up for my blunder during my testimony! It had nothing to do with you!"

"R-right…" (Good to know he's still denying his emotions.)

"Alfred?" Arthur asked, "You've been awfully quiet since the trial ended. Is everything alright, lad?"

"I, well," he bit his lip and looked away, "It's just, that stuff that Mr. Newspaper said, he's right, in a way. People die all the time, people die for  _me_  all the time and I know this but…my entire life, through wars and peace and civil unrest and everything, he's always been there and had my back."

Arthur grabbed his shoulders, "Alfred, he killed a man and tried to pin it on Lovino. What he did was  _wrong_ , to you and to them. I know it's lonely, but you're much better off without him. Give him a few decades in prison to cool off and just let this whole thing finally blow over."

"I know, but are those the kind of people who have my back? You and the other nations, I know you don't care about me-"

"Alfred that's not-"

"No, don't deny it," he shrugged the hands off, "I know what you're saying about me; Mr. Newspaper was right on that point. Is that what's left? Are the people who I have to rely on for the rest of my life murderers and backstabbers? Is that my legacy?"

"No, Alfred," I said, "There's more to you than that. So much more. TAKE THAT!"

"My file? What's that got to do with anything?"

"Everything. You're America, much more than a country of murderers and backstabbers. You have us, me and Maya and Edgeworth, we have your back, along with countless others. And while none of us here are perfect, we'll always have your back, because we know you'll always have ours."

"Yeah," Maya nodded, "There's no need to be so down on yourself because of one silly reporter."

"That's right," Edgeworth added, "We may not be around for as long as you, but you'll always have your people in your corner, even if they don't know it."

Alfred grinned, wide and bright, and pulled us all into a hug, "Thanks you guys."

"No problem, really," Edgeworth said, "Please let me go now."

He did, and as I was getting my bearings I could hear Arthur chuckling in the background and saying, "We best be off. Don't want to keep the others waiting."

"Yeah! Burgers!" Maya grabbed my arm, "Let's go Nick!"

"Yeah, thanks for paying for everyone, Mr. Wright!" Alfred laughed.

"I, what? Wait when did I-"

"Truly a wonderful gesture," Edgeworth smirked, "I'm sure everyone will be glad to hear it when we get there."

"But I-"

"Really, Mr. Wright," Arthur said, "above and beyond your defense attorney duties I must say. A noble act indeed."

(How do I always end up paying?)

"Ooh," Maya clapped her hands, "Is he gonna say it?"

"Of course he is," Edgeworth shook his head, "It's practically a tradition at this point."

"I must admit," Arthur said, "Since I skipped the end of the trial, I have missed hearing it."

Alfred laughed, "Say it nice and loud, Mr. Wright."

"OBJECTION!"

* * *

**A few months later**

**Ottawa, Canada**

"Oh, about all that business that went down in March? Yes, I was there for it. I'm the one who brought Mr. Wright and Ms. Fey into it. No one seems to remember that. No one seems to remember I was there at all, actually.

All this exciting stuff always seems to happen to Alfred, not that I'm complaining. Kumacy and I have always preferred a quiet life.

Oh, no, Kumacy is my pet polar bear. Yes of course he's a real polar bear! Kumacy, come say hi!

Huh? They left."

**Washington D.C, USA**

"Yeah, I've been dealing with the fallout of the trial. It's fine, I'm used to it, this isn't the first time Alfred Jones has been in the public eyes, although it is the first time it's been for murder. But Mr. Newspaper was right about one thing; now that everyone knows I was innocent the whole time whole time, they feel real bad about saying bad things about me in the first place.

I'm planning on taking a break from politics for a bit. Yeah some people, cough Arthur cough, may call it being irresponsible, but I think I've earned a break. Maybe I'll stop by London and see how that old man is doing, or head out to Cali and see what Mr. Wright and Miss Maya are up to. Eventually Alfred F. Jones will fade into the background again, just as it should be.

Yeah, despite what some people may say, I am okay with not being in the spotlight for a while."

**Paris, France**

"Oh, you want to talk about that incident back in March? Aren't you well informed? Yes, that was certainly exciting. I haven't been a part of an investigation like that in decades.

I used to be the center of all sorts of investigations and conspiracies, it was thrilling. I'm too old for it now, but Alfred's still young and beautiful. He can handle the spotlight once in a while.

I do wonder what those attractive lawyers and their attractive assistants are up to these days. They were a fun bunch, especially that prosecutor. I suppose I could always get myself arrested and find out, non?

I'm kidding, of course. Prison attire always looks dreadful on me."

**Berlin, Germany**

"That business with Alfred and Mr. Wright? That was months ago. I have too much to do right now, so I can't really sit around and-"

"Kesese, if you really want to talk about that giant mess Alfred got himself into, you can just ask the awesome me! I was the star of that trial! The peons were hanging on my every word!"

"Prosecutor Von Karma still won't talk to you after that mess of a testimony you gave."

"No need to stress over minor details." CHIRP!

"Speaking of Prosecutor Von Karma, she's been doing a lot of work with INTERPOL lately, so I've been seeing more of her. She's been working on a case with an investigator from Zheng Fa last I've heard."

"As for me, I've got my eye on this new up and coming prosecutor."

"The rock star turned attorney? Yes, I suppose I should keep an eye out for him too."

**Budapest, Hungary**

"Oh, I wasn't really involved in that incident. Sure I helped Mr. Wright and Maya when I could, but really there were a lot more people who helped out more than I could.

I do wish I could have helped more, but everything worked out in the end, so I'm not complaining.

More importantly, I found an online community dedicated to the WrightWorth ship and all of the pictures I took of them throughout the incident were a total hit! I'm working on a doujin about them right now, about how tragic it is to fall in love with your courtroom rival. I'm sure they'll love it."

**Rome, Italy**

"Ve? Oh, that stuff that happened back in America? Yeah, I'm really glad that Fratello and Alfred got through it okay. It was scary at the end there. I thought Fratello would be put in jail for sure! But, everything turned out all right."

"Speak for yourself, bastard! I had to stand around that shitty courtroom, forced to give testimony I didn't want to give, and almost got thrown in jail due to the convoluted plot of some pig-head bastard's revenge scheme! I almost died like three times! I'm never going back to America again! Worst birthday trip ever!"

"Oh yeah, I also get to spend my birthday with Miss Maya! She's very pretty, so I was very happy. The whole thing was worth it for that! I would love to do it again sometime."

"Yeah, next time you can get shot at and give testimony and almost die five times, and I'll take Miss Maya out."

"Ve, maybe we skip the whole trial thing and just have dinner with Miss Maya?"

"Sounds good. When's the next flight to America?"

**Vienna, Austria**

"Yes that business was such a dreadful mess, I'm surprised it turned out so well in the end. Alfred has always been careless. You'd never catch  _me_  being put on trial for something I didn't do! I strive to only be charged for crimes I've actually committed.

I haven't seen any of the lawyers since the trial, and I don't plan to. Although I do wish I had more of a chance to talk to that Prosecutor Edgeworth. He seems like a refined sort of man with ample good taste in neckwear."

**Madrid, Spain**

"Oh, I really had nothing to with that trial. I'm not very good at investigating, although I met this adorable American student here the other day, said she was really into scientific investigation. Maybe she can show me something.

Anyway, I showed up after the crime had already taken place, so I couldn't even be a witness. Lovino and Gilbert looked like they had so much fun on the witness stand, so really I missed out.

I may have overstepped my bounds when I spilled everything to Mr. Wright, but in my defense he was most of the way there and probably would have figured it out on his own. Don't tell Alfred, though."

**London, England**

"That whole debacle? Gosh, I haven't thought about it in ages.

The whole thing was quite the mess, wasn't it? You'd never find  _me_  in that sort of situation, I'd have you know.

W-what are you giving me that look for?

Anyway, it doesn't matter. Alfred's taking some time off so he fades out of the public eye. He'll always do what he wants. I don't care." Sip.

"I think he's going travelling. Maybe I want to go travelling to, did he ever think of that? But I have things like  _work_  and  _responsibilities_ that I can't drop, unlike  _some_  people, so I don't really have time for that.

O-oh? He said he was coming here? I-I don't care, he can do what he wants. Him visiting me doesn't make me happy at all." Sip.

**Tokyo, Japan**

"Yes, I recall the incident. I am not normally one for detective stories, but to be in the middle of one, even playing a minor role, was quite thrilling.

I am glad Naruhodou-san was able to save the day in the end.

Hm? That is what I just said, Naruhodou-san.

I am sure he and Ayasato-san are doing well for themselves. I hope Mitsurugi-san and Karuma-san are doing well in their chosen paths.

Hm? Yes, I know their names, I just said them."

**Moscow, Russia**

"Ah, yes, that incident Alfred got himself into. That was fun! I like watching him squirm so much. Maybe next time it'll be because of me.

I didn't spend a lot of time with Mr. Wright and Ms. Fey, but they sure did seem nice. I had a lot of fun with Mr. Edgeworth that one time, but Yong Soo ruined it by helping him. Oh well, I'm sure he had his own fun.

I did a little bit of investigating, and that was fun too! Maybe next time I can take a more active role in investigating. Eh? Of course there will be a next time! There's always a next time."

**Nevada, USA**

"What the !**#? You're still on about that? Listen, Aflred didn't do it, so get the !*#* out of here with that.

That two-bit reporter really **!#ed everything up this time. He's lucky Alfred wanted to deal with it his way, because if he let me do it my way, well, no more #$!**- *$$ reporter.

Alfred's not here right now, he's travelling. Maybe he'll see that #*!*ing lawyer and his assistant again, who knows? I probably won't, I'm going home for a bit. They'll probably be long gone by the time I get back, but Alfred'll still be around. Unless he pull this $#!* again."

**California, USA**

"Nick has a lot of crazy trials, and I get involved in them somehow in one way or another. You're going to have to be more specific if you want me to recall it.

Oh, right, that East Coast mess. Since I didn't end up having to take the witness stand, I'm calling that I win, although I did miss another outstanding opportunity to have Franzi model for my new book,  _Franzi's Whippity-Whip Trip_.

I've stayed in touch with Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio. They live in Europe, so we haven't been able to meet up since, but we're making plans to do Vegas soon.

I mean, what could possibly go wrong?"

**Seoul, South Korea**

"Yeah, that trial was a lot of fun. Probably not for Alfred, but I had a blast with my investigations. I haven't seen Detective Gumshoe since, but I've run into Ms. Von Karma once or twice. When you're big time investigators like us, your paths are bound to cross sometimes.

Mr. Edgeworth's been too busy with his 'actual job as a Prosecutor' or whatever to become a full time partner in our detective agency. I don't know why he's so against the idea. Detective work came from here, you know. No crime would go unsolved!

Since Mr. Edgeworth is abroad again, he promised to let me know when he came here, so who knows? ImWorth Investigations may return again!"

**Beijing, China**

"Ugh, don't even remind me about that nonsense, aru. Alfred gets too carried away sometimes and I'm glad the whole thing is over with.

I've heard both Ms. Von Karma and Mr. Edgeworth were abroad, but I have no plans to see them. Why should I? I'm very busy, I have things to do. I can't just drop my schedule because a human who I meet a grand total of once is in town. I'm not Alfred or Yong Soo, aru.

Mr. Wright and Ms. Von Karma did a good job in the end, I can say that much. Didn't think much of either of them at first, but they proved me wrong. It happens sometimes, but not a lot, aru.

* * *

**Seven Years Later**

**April 20, 9:40AM. District Court, Defendant's Lobby No. 3.**

(Okay, I'm fine. I'm totally  _not_ nervous, and I'm absolutely fine. My palms are sweaty and my heart feels like it's going to explode, but I'm fine!

…Who am I kidding, I'm a nervous wreck! It's my first trial and it's a murder trial! But I can't let my client see that I'm nervous.)

"Hey," a voice said behind me.

"I'm fine!" I screeched, my voice cracking a bit as I jumped in the air.

"I can see that," he laughed.

(All those 'Chords of Steel' warm-ups for nothing.) I turned around, but luckily it wasn't my client. It was a young, blond guy in a beat up leather jacket and glasses in front of blue eyes. His hair was tousled so much that one piece in front was sticking up, but he had a classic Hollywood smile plastered on his face.

"Um, you're not involved in the trial, are you?" (Just my luck he's the prosecutor or the judge or something.)

"Oh, no, not today," he laughed, "Your client is a friend of mine. He helped me out a jam a while back."

"Yeah, he does that, I hear. Did that. A few times."

"You know him?"

"Not personally, no. Just by reputation."

"I see," the man looked away.

"My boss does, they're friends."

"Yeah, I've heard," he looked back up at me, "Why'd he put you on this case, then, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, well, he asked for me. The client did, I mean."

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow, "Huh." He gazed at me, sizing me up. I tried to stand a little taller, but you can only do so much with what you're given.

(I should say something.)

He beat me to the punch, "What do you think, about the case, I mean?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did Phoenix Wright kill him, or not? What do you think?"

(Do I think he did it? Do I think that my client actually killed someone?) "Of course he didn't do it, no way."

"Good," he smiled, "As long as you're confident in that. That's the most important part."

(I've got to let this guy know I'm up for the task. Be assertive, be confident.) "I'm fine."

"So I've heard," he laughed, "I just stopped by to see how he was doing."

"He's not here yet," I shrugged and glanced at the clock. Not much time left, "He should be here soon if you want to wait."

"That's okay, I think I got what I came for," he held out his hand, "I'm Alfred Jones, by the way."

I took his hand and gave it a firm shake, "Apollo Justice." (Please don't notice the sweaty palms.)

"Justice, huh? How appropriate," Alfred let go of my hand, but kept staring at me, as if looking for something. Not wanting him to how nervous I was, I stared him back. Eventually a slow smile spread across his face, "Yeah, you'll be fine."

"I, yeah," I nodded, "I'll be fine."

Alfred laughed, "I'll be rooting for you out there. Good luck, Mr. Justice!" and left.

(Right. Okay. Gotta get my head in the game and focus.

Look out world, here comes Justice!)

_The End._


End file.
